COMPLIANCE WITH THE FACE-DOWN POSITIONING AFTER VITRECTOMY AND GAS TAMPONADE FOR RHEGMATOGENOUS RETINAL DETACHMENTS.

Purpose: To determine the compliance with the face-down positioning (FDP) of the patients who had undergone vitrectomy and gas tamponade.

Methods: One hundred and twenty-seven patients, 45 females and 82 males, who had undergone primary vitrectomy and gas tamponade for rhegmatogenous retinal detachments were studied. The FDP score was determined as 4 per day for 3 days after the surgery. The patient was given a score of one if the nurse found that the patient was in the FDP and zero if not in the FDP. A perfect FDP score was 12.

Results: The mean ± SD FDP score was 10.2 ± 1.8 with a range of 3 to 12. Females (10.7 ± 1.2) scored significantly higher than males (9.9 ± 2.1) (Mann-Whitney U test: P < 0.05). Patients who scored a perfect 12 were 38 (29.9%; female, 14:31.1%; male 24:29.3%). Low scorers <8 were all males (12:14.6%) and no females (0:0.0%). Age did not seem to be related. Only 1 patient failed to achieve retinal attachment, although she had scored a perfect 12.

Conclusion: The compliance was considerably varied among patients. Some patients failed nearly or more than half times, and they were mostly males. The significance of the FDP to treat rhegmatogenous retinal detachment needs to be examined in a further investigation.