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Combined phaco, vitrectomy may prevent second operation for patients with DR

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For patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy, combining phacoemulsification, posterior capsulectomy and pars plana vitrectomy may provide visual recovery without a second surgical procedure, according to a study.

The combination surgery, with the insertion of a posterior chamber IOL, prevented the formation of post-vitrectomy cataracts, the study’s authors noted in the July issue of Ophthalmology.

J. Michael Lahey, MD, Robert R. Francis, MD, and John J. Kearney, MD, at the Kaiser Permanente Eye Clinic, analyzed the results of 223 patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy who underwent the combined procedure. Preoperatively, 153 patients presented with vitreous hemorrhage, 58 with traction retinal detachment and 12 with macular traction.

During a mean follow-up of 10 months, patients averaged 4.3 Snellen lines of visual acuity improvement. A total of 22 patients required repeat vitrectomy: 12 for vitreous hemorrhage and 10 for retinal detachment. Other postop complications included retinal detachment, diabetic macular edema, cystoid macular edema and vitreous hemorrhage.