In a series of cases of retinal detachment without visible holes, failure was not associated with local procedures but, as in all cases of retinal detachment, with membrane formation and retinal fibrosis. In total detachments with no localizing signs we favoured the encirclement procedure. In this group of thirty cases of retinal detachment in which no hole could be found we achieved the surprisingly high success rate of 87 per cent, but in as many as seventeen of the thirty cases a local buckle was applied to the most likely site of the tear. We therefore feel that the principle of performing the least traumatic procedure, i.e. a local procedure, can still be followed in a considerable number of these challenging cases.