Background: To evaluate the incidence and cause of iatrogenic retinal breaks (RBs) and postoperative retinal detachment (RD) in cases of idiopathic macular hole (MH) and epiretinal membrane (ERM).
Methods: We analyzed 79 eyes with MH and 41 eyes with ERM, the relationship between the incidence of RBs and RD, and the frequency of posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) and lattice degeneration (LD).
Results: The incidence of RBs related to the operation was significantly higher in eyes with MH. The frequency of PVD was significantly higher in eyes with ERM. The frequency of LD did not differ between groups. In the MH group, the incidence of RBs related to the operation was high in eyes without PVD, but with LD. We observed four cases of RD in the MH group.
Conclusion: The MH group had higher incidence of RBs related to the operation, especially in eyes without PVD or with LD.