Effect of prophylactic 360° laser treatment for prevention of retinal detachment after phacovitrectomy: (Prophylactic 360° laser treatment for prevention of retinal detachment)

BACKGROUND To investigate the effect of intraoperative 360° laser retinopexy anterior to the equator for the prevention of retinal detachment after phacovitrectomy. METHODS The patients were part of two consecutive case series cohorts in macular hole (MH) and rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD), one which did not receive intraoperative prophylactic 360° laser, and one which received intraoperative prophylactic 360° laser. For the 360° laser treatment group, three rows of medium-white burns were positioned anterior to the equator. The baseline characteristics and the risk of retinal detachment over time were analyzed and compared between the groups. RESULTS Prophylactic intraoperative 360° laser treatment was performed on 77 MH cases (67.3 years) and compared to a control group of 35 MH cases (65.8 years). Additionally, prophylactic intraoperative 360° laser treatment was performed on 108 RRD cases (64.0 years) and compared to 270 RRD cases (64.4 years). The 360° laser group showed a significant reduction (0%, 0/77 eyes) in the rate of the incidence of retinal detachment after vitrectomy at 12 months after surgery in MH cases, compared with the control group (5.7%, 2/35 eyes) (p = 0.034). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated that the rate of retinal detachment in the control group was significantly higher than that in the 360° laser group (p = 0.035). There was no significant difference between the groups in RRD cases (p = 0.092). CONCLUSIONS Intraoperative 360° laser retinopexy following phacovitrectomy resulted in a significant reduction in the rate of postoperative retinal detachment in MH cases.