Retinal detachment

What is retinal detachment?

• It is when the retina detaches from the back wall of the eye.
• The retina stops being supplied blood and nutrients.
• The retina will degenerate and will stop performing its function.
• It causes flashes of light that do not disappear, blurry vision and loss of central vision if the detachment is not fixed.
• It is considered to be an urgent disease that needs immediate intervention.

Causes of retinal detachment

Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment

• Caused by a tear or break in the retina that allows the vitreous humour to pass through the torn zone, thus causing the retina to detach.
• Caused by trauma, age or for no specific reason.
• It is the most common type of detachment.

Exudative

• Caused by the accumulation of fluid (exudative) underneath the retina that causes the retina to detach.
• Tumours and inflammatory disorders can cause exudative detachments.

Tractional retinal detachment

• Caused by the fibrovascular tissue of the vitreous cavity pulling on the retina.
• Proliferative diabetic retinopathy usually causes this type of detachment.

Treatments for retinal detachment

Scleral buckle

It is the most commonly used technique to repair retinal detachment.
A solid silicone band is placed on the sclera to push the eyeball toward the detached retina, thus alleviating the traction on the retinal hole.


Vitrectomy

Before using the scleral buckle technique, it is possible to carry out a vitrectomy to seal the tears or holes in the retina.
It involves the extraction of blood and vitreous humour from the eye and replacing it with a saline solution.
Three small incisions are made on the flat part of the eye, behind the iris and in front of the retina. Trocars and miniature cannulas are placed on the eye in order to be able to access the areas with the surgical instruments.
The holes where the trocars were placed need to be closed at the end of the vitrectomy.