Exposed Suture of Scleral Buckle

[mrslant]

Hi,

I had the buckle surgery about 8 years ago to treat my retinal detachment.  Since the surgery, I've always had a lot of scar tissue around the RD eye, but learned to live with it.  Most opthamalogist I saw afterwards said my surgeon did a poor job, in regards to leaving too much scar tissue, but I digress.

For the last year and a half, I've had two incidents where a strange blimp-shaped looking scar tissue protrudes out of the left hand corner of my eye, about 3mm (2/10th of an inch) in size, causing a slight discomfort.  

Last year my Kaiser doctor numb'ed my eye and used a q-tip to tear it out, and that was that.  Last week I went to a different doctor (since Kaiser is closed on Saturdays) and asked him to do the same.  He was hesitant at first but he did, and he told me the following:

The left hand corner of my eye has an exposed suture of the buckle.  I should consult with my kaiser doctor again to see if I need to remove the buckle, or go for some conjunction closure procedure.  He says when the suture is exposed like such, it's more prone to the whole buckle getting infected.  He also said that that's what's probably causing the growth of the blimp-like scar tissue.

So I went to my Kaiser doctor and he believes it's been there for a while now, and he doesn't think it's that serious.  Or he actually referred me to a different Kaiser doctor (RD specialist) to take a look next week.

Can I get some input from the experts here?

Thank you very much.

[Sojomy]

MrSlant, I know this is over 2 years old, but I was wondering what has happend to you since this posting.  I think I am having the exact same issue.  I don't have any pain, but I think I can see an exposed suture coming out from under the scar tissue.  I'm going to try to see the eye surgeon as soon as I can, but any info you can report would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Josh

[mrslant]

Hi Dr. O,

Thank you for your input.  You say it "may need" to be removed.  Can you tell me cases where they don't have to be removed?  Also if I do have to remove the buckle, will that type of surgery cause even more scar tissue?

My Kaiser doctor told me that there is an exposed suture on the lower-left-hand corner of my eye, but he says he really has to pull hard on my eye to even see it.

But the first doctor that actually discovered it while taking out the blimp like scar tissue, found it with relative ease.

I don't know who to believe.

I am scheduled to see another Kaiser doctor who's more well versed in the field of retinal detachment next week.  I guess he'll be the 3rd opinion, then I'll go for a 4th and see.

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

Exposed sutures and buckle may need to be removed.  Usually, the removal of the buckle alone will allow closure of the conjunctiva over the area.

Dr. O.