The retina, which is a thin membrane lining the inside wall of the eye, converts focused light into electrical impulses that are transmitted to the brain via optic nerve for vision to take place. Sometimes, the retina can develop a break and detach from the underlying eye wall, which leads to visual loss. A retinal break can happen either spontaneously in certain predisposed person such as a person who is very near sighted or with family history of retinal detachment, or in rare cases following severe direct eye trauma.

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However, the most common cause of a retinal break is a vitreous detachment, which occurs when the gel inside the eye undergoes natural degeneration and becomes thicker, causing it to separate from the retina. Vitreous detachment happens to everybody some point in time. Since the retina is so thin, the separating gel can tear the retina in certain predisposed person. When the liquid inside the eye starts to leak through the retinal break and collects under the retina, the retinal detachment can starts to form. During the early stage of retinal detachment, there may not be any noticeable symptom. When the area of retinal detachment becomes larger, the affected person can notice a curtain or shadow, which progressively enlarges. Since onset of floaters or flashes may be a warning sign of possible retinal tear that can lead to retinal detachment, it is highly recommended to have a dilated retinal examination when you are having new floaters as soon as possible.

Treatment

Retinal breaks: The most common treatment is laser photocoagulation with laser. The laser beam is placed around the retinal break to form an adhesion to prevent the retina from detaching. This is usually performed in an office setting and, in most cases, highly successful. In some cases, especially if blood is present to prevent laser uptake, cryotherapy is performed to freeze the area around the retinal tear to achieve the same effect.

Retinal Detachment: If the retina is already detached to a certain degree, laser is no longer applicable. In this case, surgery is needed. Types of retinal detachment surgical technique is dependent upon several factors including location and size of the retinal tears, duration of retinal detachment, and presence of retinal scars. Mainly, there are three techniques: pneumatic retinopexy, scleral buckle, and vitrectomy. Sometimes, combination of these techniques are used to repair a given retinal detachment.