J Korean Ophthalmol Soc.  2005 Jan;46(1):144-149.

The Effect of Scleral Buckle in Experimental Penetrating Eye Injury

• Lee KW
• Lee SJ
• Lee JH

Abstract

PURPOSE
Scleral buckles are frequently performed as an additional procedure in perforated ocular injury surgery, but little is known about their independent effect after ocular trauma. The authors made a posterior penetrating ocular injury model in rabbits to evaluate the isolated role of primary scleral buckle placement. METHODS: Twenty eyes underwent surgery. The penetrating injury consisted of two 5 mm circumferential incisions placed five clock hours apart and 7 mm behind the limbus. A segmental scleral buckle was placed over a randomly chosen penetrating injury site after wound closure. The degree of the fibrous proliferation, traction, and the presence of retinal detachment were evaluated on follow-up examination. After enucleation and fixation, tissue sectioning was performed including injury sites. The greatest dimension of the fibrous proliferation at both wound sites was measured. RESULTS: Two eyes were excluded from the study due to unsuccessful buckling. Four eyes developed a retinal detachment. The remaining 14 eyes showed varying degrees of proliferation and traction on the retina. The greatest dimension of the fibrous proliferation at the buckle site (1.69 +/- 0.29 mm) was significantly different from that at the non-buckle site (2.07 +/- 0.37 mm, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Primary scleral buckle placement at the time of surgical repair reduces vitreous traction and decreases the degree of fibrous proliferation.

Keyword

Penetrating eye injury; Rabbit; Scleral buckle

MeSH Terms

Eye Injuries, Penetrating*
Follow-Up Studies
Methods
Rabbits
Retina
Retinal Detachment
Tissue Fixation
Traction
Wounds and Injuries