Dr. Maithili Mishra, Dr. Umesh Chandra Behera
Analysis of 79 consecutive eyes operated for proliferative diabetic retinopathy without perioperative antiVEGF use showed that secondary intervention was required in 55.69%(cataract extraction 37.9%; additional vitreoretinal surgery 16.5%; lasers and anti-VEGF 5.1%) of the eyes within a mean follow up of 12.2 months. Complications included recurrent vitreous haemorrhage (19%) secondary glaucoma (6.3%) persistent macular traction (3.8%) secondary epiretinal membrane formation (2.5%) and rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (1.3%). The mean best corrected visual acuity improved from log MAR 1.3 preoperative to 1.0 post-operative (p = 0.0001) which was statistically significant (gain of 4 lines on Snellen’s vision chart). No significant association of hypertension (p=0.293) or duration of diabetes (p=0.134) was noted. As the results were comparable to that quoted in the literature with perioperative anti-VEGF use, the same could be avoided to decrease the treatment burden on the patient.