AIM: To compare the postoperative outcomes after segmental scleral buckling(SSB)surgery with minimal in situ conjunctival incision(MCI)and conventional limbal conjunctival incision(LCI).

METHODS: Prospective randomized controlled study. Eighty eyes of 80 patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment(RRD)who received SSB surgeries in our hospital from August 2016 to November 2018 were recruited. They were randomly divided into two groups. Patients in control group were performed with conventional LCI, while patients in observation group received MCI. The length of the surgery, the retinal reattachment rate and the visual analogue scale(VAS)for evaluating the pain on the first postoperative day, questionnaire scoring method for evaluating the postoperative comfort level(including foreign body sensation and tearing)on the first, seventh, fourteenth, and thirtieth days were recorded.

RESULTS: The difference of surgery time between the control group and the observation group was statistically significant(t=2.057, P<0.05). There was no significance in retinal reattachment rate between two groups. At the first day after surgery, the postoperative pain of the observation group was significantly lower than the control group(P<0.05). At the first and seventh day after surgery, the observation group had higher postoperative comfort questionnaire score than the control group(P<0.01), however, at the fourteenth and thirtieth day after surgery, the score was similar between the two groups(P>0.05).

CONCLUSION: Using MCI in SSB operation could shorten the operation time and significantly reduced postoperative pain and discomfort level.