Drainage of subretinal fluid was performed in 84% of a consecutive series of 662 primary scleral buckling procedures, and complications of this maneuver were observed in 5.6% of cases. The ultimate anatomic success rate in this series was 94.2%. Although 97% of failures were due to massive proliferative vitreoretinopathy, the process developed in no eyes in which complications of drainage were observed. Drainage of subretinal fluid is a potentially hazardous maneuver, but complications of this procedure are an uncommon cause of anatomic failure in retinal reattachment surgery.