Services

Retinal Detachment Surgery

Repair of retinal detachments is more exacting and difficult surgery than most other eye surgeries.

Animals are often presented to us only when the retinal detachment becomes quite severe (the animal may have noticed it sooner but was unable to explain the problem to the owner) limiting our surgical options.

Case selection is important – animals with complete detachments are very poor candidates for any surgery.

Eyes with partial detachments may be more amenable to surgical repair.

Unlike in humans retinal buckling surgery (from the outside of the eye) does not work well in most animals – other complications like glaucoma often develop. We tend to be limited to 2 approaches to retinal detachment surgical repair:

  • Limiting further detachment by using a laser to “spot-weld” along the edge of the existing detachment to prevent any worsening of the problem
  • Intraocular surgery (vitreoretinal surgery) to remove material in the eye contributing to the detachment, replacement of the retina against the back of the eye using special liquid and gases and laser “welding” to ensure that the retina sticks to the back of the eye