Background and objective: To facilitate timely surgery and efficient use of operating room time, our practice uses a team-based approach so patients may undergo primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) surgery with a different surgeon instead of the diagnosing surgeon.
Patients and methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of 331 eyes that underwent RRD surgery. Patients were divided into two groups: RRD surgery performed by the diagnosing surgon, and RRD surgery performed by a different surgeon.
Results: Of 331 eyes, 200 eyes (60.4%) were repaired by the diagnosing surgeon and 131 eyes (39.6%) were repaired by a different surgeon. Primary anatomic success (PAS) rates at 3 months postoperatively were equivalent between the two groups (87.0% and 87.8% in the diagnosing surgeon and different surgeon groups, respectively [P = .83]). There was no significant difference in preoperative (P = .08) or final (P = .28) visual acuity between the groups. Time between diagnosis and RRD repair was shorter in the different surgeon group (median of 1.5 days [IQR: 1.0-3.6] in the surgeon group versus 2.2 days [IQR: 0.8-5.7] in the diagnosing surgeon group) (P = .03). Logistic regression analysis gave no evidence to suggest that PAS rates depended on day of week, time of day surgery was performed, group, or the interaction between those factors (P = .93).
Conclusions: Visual and anatomic success in RRD repair are equivalent when surgery is performed by either the diagnosing surgeon or a surgical colleague because time to surgery is reduced. Neither time of day nor day of the week had any influence on the outcomes. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2021;52:560-566.].