In the operative treatment of detachment of the retina one tries to produce an adhesion between the retina and the choroid close to the place surrounding the rent. The most logical method to produce this result is scleral diathermocoagulation or surface coagulation.
In contrast to all of the others, this method provokes choroidal irritation without perforating the sclera, so that the eye keeps its tonus during the whole operation. Only when the operation is finished are the evacuating punctures begun, and as these are done in a cauterized area, all risk of hemorrhage is avoided.
The diathermic reaction lasts about ten days and produces a zone of solid adhesion between the retina and choroid.
The features of this electrocoagulation are well known, except for the most important feature, the exact measurement of diathermic effect, which has failed up to the present.
The diathermic effect has been measured by some ophthalmologists
. . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]
