Supplemental gas tamponade after conventional scleral buckling surgery--a simple alternative to surgical revision.

Supplemental intravitreal gas injection was used in the early postoperative period in an attempt to achieve long term retinal reattachment in 11 cases of failed scleral buckling surgery. Success was dependent on the presence of a correctly placed scleral buckle underlying all breaks. Surgical revision was thereby avoided in these patients. However, when the scleral buckle was inadequate the technique failed.