Retinal detachment

Retina is the internal layer of the eye, which receives and transmits the images going to the brain. When it is detached, the patient sight grows more and more blurred, until it is lost completely.

Vitreous humor is a gelatinous substance which may lose its transparency due to hemorrhages, inflammations and other opacities. This causes decreased vision. Retina and vitreous pathologies may restrain the patient from seeing clearly the details of an image, besides generating blindness or severe loss of sight.

Without a treatment, diabetes and other diseases either obstruct or tear blood vessels inside the eye. Very often, such progressive deterioration may lead to definitive loss of sight, together with pain, and ocular globe atrophy. In cases of diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration associated with aging, and retinal vein occlusions, there is a good alternative to avoid additional loss of sight: argon laser photocoagulation.

The most important retinal surgeries include conventional retinopexy, posterior retinopexy, laser intrasurgical retinopexy, retinopexy by cryotherapy, and vitrectomy with retinopexy.

For complicated kinds of retinal detachment, vitrectomy is combined with the implantation of synthetic material to place against the layers separated from wall of the ocular globe. Then, laser is applied to block tearing, and the inside of the eye is filled with gas or silicon oil. A high percentage of operated cases is successful, as retina gets adhered with only one surgery.