Retinal Detachment but told to wait

[nooc]

My girlfriend was in a bad car accident Friday afternoon.  I was not in town.  She was banged up badly.  No one would give me details and she was groggy as to what she was told in the emergency room.  Here's what I know:

Her eye was bandaged and is swollen.  
An ophthalmologist called into emergency looked at her eye.
She was told to return to the hospital on Tuesday.
She knows that her orbital bone had been fractured.
She has a vague recollection about being told about a detachment.
One of her friends confirms the doctor said there was a detachment.
According to another friend's email, they were considering taking to her another city if her "eye doesn't respond".
As far as my research goes, retinal detachments must be operated on within 48 hours.  I did speak to a optometrist friend who confirms this, although she said it's not a hard and fast rule.  

My questions:
Why would the ophthalmologist who saw her tell her that there was a detachment, yet tell her to come back on Tuesday, 4 days after the fact and twice the amount of allowable time to properly repair her eye?
Does swelling interfere with repairing a retinal detachment?
If so, would you not want your patient to still return within the 48 hours to see if the swelling has gone down enough?
Despite the swelling, is it possible for the ophthalmologist to have done some sort of repair right then and there?

Thank you.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

-

[AppleBr]

Item 3 Mercifully is no. Had to wait almost a week for my surgery and it was the worst time in my life!
For me, that was obviously an emergency and every night I had the feeling I could be blind next morning.At the last days I was kind of "prepared for", psicologically completely  exhausted, all I wanted was the end of the situation.
Good luck for your girlfriend!

[nooc]

Dear Dr Hagan,

Thank you so much for your response.  I have been unable to get any solid answers and it's frustrating not knowing what is going on.  This a major relief to know there are other possibilities.  If she was coherent enough to tell me who the ophthalmologist was, I would definitely like to talk to him.  Thank you ever so much.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

1. It may be a vitreous detachment not a retinal detachment.
2. Not all retinal detachments require surgery.
3. Repairing some retinal detachments is not an emergency.
4. You should talk to the ophthalmologist that examined her.

JCH MD