A common surgery used to treat retinal detachment is the placement of a SCLERAL BUCKLE. This is essentially a belt around the middle of the eye that squeezes the eyeball and reduces its radial diameter. This is helpful in cases where the retina is being contracted inward and pulling away from the eyewall-a scleral buckle essentially brings the eyewall to the retina in these cases.

Scleral buckle surgery is major surgery in which the surgeon works within the eye socket and underneath the muscles around the eye. Usually, only a very small incision is made through the eyewall itself, to allow fluid trapped beneath the retina--between the retina and the eyewal--to be released. The surgery makes patients more nearsighted than they were previously. When properly performed, the success rate can be quite good.