Aim: To evaluate the benefits of the internal limiting membrane removal in patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment who underwent pars plana vitrectomy.
Material and methods: The first study group (B) consisted of 26 patients who underwent vitrectomy with the internal limiting membrane peeling. The second control group (K) consisted of 15 patients, in whom vitrectomy was performed without he internal limiting membrane peeling. Macular detachment was confirmed preoperatively in all patients. Ophthalmic examination was performed 6 months after surgery. This included the best corrected visual acuity for distance and near, M-Charts, fundus examination and spectral domain--optical coherent tomography.
Results: The results were statistically analyzed using the Shapiro-Wilk test and the Ch2 test of homogeneity. In the study group (B), the mean postoperative best corrected visual acuity for distance was 0.46, while in the control group (K) it was 0.35 (p = 0.35). The best corrected visual acuity for near in group B was 0.83 and 1.01 (p = 0.63) in group K. Central retinal thickness in group B was 268.64 μm, while in group K it was 335.07 μm (p = 0.20). The statistical analysis revealed significant differences between the two groups regarding the prevalence of defects in the ellipsoidal layer (p = 0.004). They were found to occur more frequently in group K (64.29%) than in group B (20.00%). The prevalence of epiretinal membrane was higher in group K (28.57%) than in group B (3.85%) (p = 0.02).
Conclusions: The internal limiting membrane peeling reduces the risk of secondary epiretinal membrane, restores the ellipsoidal layer integrity and does not affect the visual acuity for distance and near.