Management of retinal detachment and myopia - practice patterns among vitreoretinal surgeons of India - A VRSI survey.

Purpose: To present results from the Vitreo Retina Society-India (VRSI) 2024 Preference and Trends (PAT) survey focusing on retinal detachment (RD) and myopia management practices among Indian vitreoretinal surgeons.

Methods: A 62-item questionnaire was distributed to all VRSI members over email. Responses were collected over 6 weeks by google forms. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results: A total of 289 members participated in the survey. Prophylactic barrage prerefractive surgery was preferred by 55.21% of the respondents. For phakic retinal detachments, scleral buckling was preferred in the absence of posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) (69.45% single hole, 52% multiple holes), while in pseudophakic, the trend was toward vitrectomy, with an encirclage for inferior breaks (54.38% with no PVD, 52.75% with PVD). For RD with superior breaks with < Grade B PVR, respondents preferred laser to break alone intraoperatively during vitrectomy (65.44%) compared to 360-degree laser and gas tamponade (67.52%), while silicon oil was more preferred tamponade for RD with inferior breaks with > Grade B PVR (99%). Respondents preferred imaging myopic choroidal neovascular membranes with optical coherence tomography and optical coherence tomography angiography (45.42%), initiate treatment with ranibizumab (41.2%), and follow pro-re-nata regimen (61.62%). For myopic macular schisis, vitrectomy was the preferred management for Stage 2C (70%) and Stages 4A and 4C (80%).

Conclusions: The VRSI-PAT survey highlights current diverse preferences among Indian vitreoretinal surgeons. These survey results will guide fellow practitioners to understand current real-world practice with relation to established literature.