Long-term Comparison of Choroidal Thickness between Scleral Encircling and Combined with Trans-pars Plana Vitrectomy in Retinal Detachment

Purpose: To compare the subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) before and after scleral encircling (SE), with or without trans-pars plana vitrectomy (TPPV), in patients with monocular primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD).Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients who underwent SE for monocular primary RRD between January 2019 and June 2021 and underwent optical coherence tomography during follow-up. SFCT was measured independently at three regions before the surgery and 1, 2, 3, and 6 months after the surgery. The values were manually analyzed by two independent ophthalmologists.Results: Of the 33 eyes included in the study, 18 (54%) underwent SE alone, while 15 (46%) underwent SE with TPPV. SFCT gradually decreased after surgery in all patients (p < 0.05). The SFCT was significantly greater 6 months postoperatively in the SE alone group (260.51 ± 78.30 μm) compared to the SE with TPPV group (225.55 ± 75.24 μm) (p < 0.05). Macular detachment patients had significantly greater preoperative SFCTs (276.46 ± 20 μm) compared to others (223.93 ± 20 μm) (p < 0.05). Preoperative SFCT was significantly related to visual acuity (p < 0.05), while the remaining SFCT values did not have any significant effects.Conclusions: In primary RRD eyes, SFCT decreased over time after SE, more so when TPPV was also performed. Further studies are required to investigate the mechanism of SFCT change and its impact on RRD.