Treatment of Retinal Detachment in People Who Have Not Had Cataract Surgery With Vitrectomy vs Vitrectomy and Cataract Removal

Summary

Background and study aims The retina is the layer at the back of the eye that allows us to see. Sometimes, it can detach from the wall of the eye, causing a condition called rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD), which leads to vision loss and requires surgery. The most common surgery for RRD is vitrectomy, but this can lead to complications like cataracts, which worsen over time and need to be removed with another surgery. Cataract surgery involves replacing the cloudy lens with a clear artificial one. Currently, it's unclear whether it's better to perform both surgeries at the same time or separately. The COMBAT study aims to find out which approach is best by comparing the outcomes of patients who have vitrectomy alone versus those who have both surgeries (vitrectomy and cataract surgery by phacoemulsification and intraocular lens \[IOL\] implantation) together.

Who can participate? Adults aged 50 and older who have RRD but are not highly myopic (less than -6 diopters or an axial length of 26.5 mm or less) and have not had previous vitreoretinal surgery. Participants must be scheduled for a pars plana vitrectomy to repair their RRD.

What does the study involve? Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: one group will have vitrectomy first and, if needed, cataract surgery later; the other group will have both surgeries at the same time. The study will compare their vision, the number of successful retina reattachments, health related and visual related quality of life, patient satisfaction, complications, additional surgeries and procedures, and costs.

Conditions

• Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment

Interventions

PROCEDURE

Phacovitrectomy

Participants will undergo phacovitrectomy to remove the lens (phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation) and to repair the RRD (vitrectomy). Although a phacovitrectomy is done in the same manner whether the condition to be treated is macular hole or RRD, the calculations required for the surgeon to select which intraocular lens should be implanted are different if there is a RRD with a detached macula. For this reason, a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) will be prepared for the phacovitrectomy group to guide surgeons on how to best determine the intraocular lens under these circumstances (17). Vitrectomy with any gauge size (e.g.23g, 25g, 27g) will be allowed for the surgery, as per standard care at the participating site. The choice of the tamponade agent will be at the discretion of the treating vitreoretinal surgeon, as per standard care.

PROCEDURE

Vitrectomy

Participants will receive vitrectomy to repair their RRD. The vitrectomy would be done as per standard care. Vitrectomy with any gauge size (e.g.23g, 25g, 27g) will be allowed for the surgery, as per standard care at the participating site. The choice of the tamponade agent will be at the discretion of the treating vitreoretinal surgeon, as per standard care. Then, if a cataract develops, phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation will be done as per standard clinical practice.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Northern Ireland Clinical Trials Unit

  collaborator OTHER

• Queen's University, Belfast

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Noemi Lois · Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

50 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-05-16

Primary Completion

2028-05-08

Completion

2028-05-08

Countries

• United Kingdom

Study Locations