BACKGROUND Vitreous surgery has been advocated as an alternative treatment of selected retinal detachments with choroidal colobomas. OBJECTIVE To study the long term anatomical and visual outcome of choroidal coloboma with retinal detachment managed by pars plana vitrectomy with silicone oil tamponade. METHODS Retrospective study conducted in a tertiary eye care hospital. METHODS Fourty two eyes of 40 patients with retinal detachments related to coloboma of the choroid without any peripheral breaks were analyzed. All eyes underwent pars plana vitrectomy with internal tamponade using silicone oil. Endolaser was performed along the coloboma border. Silicone oil was removed in 50% of patients. The main outcome measures were retinal reattachment and visual recovery. SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Science), version 10.0 was used for analysis. RESULTS The retina in all cases (100%) undergoing vitrectomy were completely reattached intra-operatively. After a mean follow-up of 14 months, 37 (88.1%) eyes had attached retina. The best corrected visual acuity was 10/200 or better in 33 (78.4%) eyes. The best corrected visual acuity improved from a preoperative median of counting fingers (range 20/40 to perception of light) to median best corrected visual acuity of 20/200 (range 20/40 to perception of light) at the end of 6 months. Of the 50% (21) cases that underwent silicone oil removal, two eyes had re-detachment of retina. CONCLUSIONS Pars plana vitrectomy along with silicone oil tamponade for retinal detachment related to choroidal coloboma improves the long-term anatomical and visual outcome.