1) What is a Retinal Detachment?
Retinal Detachment is when the retina, which is a layer at the back of your eye that converts light into images that you see around you, gets detached from the blood vessels underneath it that provide it with nutrition.
2) What causes Retinal Detachment?
Retinal Detachment commonly happens with aging, as that is when the vitreous in your eye starts shrinking and pulls on the retina, causing it to detach.
Apart from this, Retinal Detachment can also occur due to eye injuries, eye surgery you may have undergone in the past, and myopia.
3) Am I at risk?
Although Retinal detachment is a common condition that occurs in almost everyone, some factors may increase your risk of developing this condition, such as:
- Having undergone a serious eye injury like cataract removal
- Being over 50 years of age
- Being extremely near-sighted
- Having a family history of retinal detachment
- Previous retinal detachment in one eye
- Having undergone a Posterior vitreous detachment
4) How can Retinal Detachment be prevented?
Although Retinal Detachment can’t be prevented, you can still lower the risk of getting it by:
- Wearing protective eye gear while playing sports to avoid eye injury.
- Consulting an ophthalmologist if you experience any symptoms early on.
5) When do I know I am facing Retinal Detachment?
Retinal detachment may not show any symptoms if only a small part of the retina is detached.
However, if more of your retina is detached, you may notice symptoms like:
- Emergence of floaters across your vision
- Photopsia: Flashes of light in your eyes
- Darkening of your peripheral vision
- A curtain-like formation over your field of vision
6) Diagnosis and treatment
Retinal Detachment is diagnosed in the following ways that are often non-intrusive and painless:
- Optical Coherence Tomography
In this test, you’ll get dilating eye drops and will be asked to sit in front of the OCT machine which will scan your eye.
- Fundus imaging
In this test, wide-angle images of your retina are taken after your eyes are dilated
- Ocular ultrasound
In this test, your eyes are scanned using an instrument. Then gel is applied on your eyelids and scanned again with eyes closed. This test doesn’t require dilating eye drops, but your eyes are usually numbed to avoid discomfort.
- Computed tomography
Also known as a CT scan, this test uses X-rays to identify any eye injuries or trauma to ensure safe treatment.
Retinal detachment treatment options
Surgery is often advised to repair a retinal tear or detachment. Depending on the risks and benefits of each treatment option available, you can determine which treatment option will suit you the best. Some of these treatments are:
- Photocoagulation: Also known as laser surgery, this procedure involves using a laser beam to burn through the retinal tear, creating a scar to hold the retina in place by connecting it to the underlying tissue.
- Cryopexy: Also known as freezing, this procedure involves putting a freezing probe on the surface of the eye which causes a scar that helps keep the retina intact.
- Scleral buckling: This surgery involves sealing the retinal tear by placing a silicone band around the eye to hold the retina in place and sealing the tear with a laser.
- Vitrectomy: This surgery helps remove the vitreous by using the laser to seal all retinal tears and placing a bubble of gas, oil, or air to help the retina stay intact.
- Pneumatic retinopexy: This procedure is used in minor detachments. It involves inserting some fluid in the eye with the help of a needle, injecting a small air bubble into the eye, and then waiting for the retina to move back into place as you repair any tears with the help of Photocoagulation or Cryopexy.
7) Types of Retinal Detachment
Retinal Detachment can be of various types, such as:
- Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment: This is the most common type of retinal detachment, which can happen if you have a small tear in your retina, which allows a gel-like fluid called vitreous to get behind it and push the retina away, making it detach. This mainly occurs due to aging.
- Tractional retinal detachment: This happens if the scar tissue on your retina pulls it away from the back of your eye. It mainly happens due to diabetic retinopathy, which damages blood vessels and scars your retina. As the scars get bigger, they can pull on it and detach the retina from the back of your eye.
- Exudative retinal detachment: This happens when fluid builds up behind your retina, but there aren’t any holes, which makes it get stuck behind the retina, pushing it away from the back and detaching it. It occurs due to swelling in the back of the eye and leaking of blood vessels near the retina, due to an eye injury or trauma, age-related macular degeneration, tomors, etc.
8) Why visit AKIO for Retinal Detachment?
AKIO offers several different types of treatments available for conditions affecting the retina and vitreous, including:
- Laser photocoagulation: This treatment uses a laser to seal or destroy abnormal blood vessels in the retina, which can cause conditions such as diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration.
- Injections: Medications can be injected into the eye to treat various conditions, including age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and retinal vein occlusion.
- Vitrectomy: This surgical procedure involves removing the vitreous gel from the eye and replacing it with a saline solution. It may be used to treat conditions such as retinal detachment, macular hole, and vitreous hemorrhage.
- Cryotherapy: This treatment uses extreme cold to freeze and destroy abnormal tissue in the retina. It may be used to treat retinal tears, detachments, and other conditions.
- Scleral buckling: This surgical procedure involves placing a silicone band around the eye to push the retina back into place in cases of retinal detachment.
- Pneumatic retinopexy: This procedure involves injecting a gas bubble into the vitreous cavity to push the retina back into place in cases of retinal detachment. The patient may need to maintain a certain head position for a period of time to ensure the bubble remains in the correct position.