Cost Comparison of Scleral Buckle versus Vitrectomy for Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment Repair – Corrected Proof

Purpose: To estimate and compare the costs of scleral buckle (SB) and pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for treatment of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD).Design: Cost analysis based on published prospective data comparing SB and PPV for RRD repair.Methods: The costs of initial surgery, postoperative retina-affecting procedures, and eventual cataract extraction resulting from SB and PPV for RRD repair were estimated for both phakic and pseudophakic or aphakic patients and then were compared. A univariate sensitivity analysis also was performed to examine the sensitivity of our estimations.Results: When considering all costs, SB was 10.7% less expensive than PPV for RRD repair in phakic patients, whereas PPV was 12% less expensive than SB for RRD repair in pseudophakic or aphakic patients. These conclusions were robust in the sensitivity analysis.Conclusions: SB seems to offer a modest cost savings over PPV for repair of RRD in phakic patients. However, in pseudophakic and aphakic patients, PPV seems to be less expensive than SB.