Types of Diabetic Retinopathy Surgery One of the leading causes of blindness in the world is a disease called diabetic retinopathy. This disease is a complication of diabetes mellitus which directly affects the blood vessels of the retina. Retina is a very sensitive tissue in the eye that is responsible for vision of the person. Now, once the retina is damaged, the person may suffer from blurry vision to permanent blindness. This damage in the retina is because of some diseases such as macular degeneration and retinal detachments but diabetic retinopathy is the most common cause of the damage. This disease is considered incurable but there are several diabetic retinopathy surgery performed by doctors that could prevent permanent blindness as well as improve the vision of the patient. Normally, diabetic retinopathy shows no signs or early symptoms until the complications developed. When this happens, the patient’s visions become blurry, his eyes become painful and worse; he has complete loss of his eyesight. This is the reason why patients with diabetes have to have a regular check up with their doctors in order to prevent this. The kind of diabetic retinopathy surgery for a patient depends on the stage of its diabetic retinopathy. There are 4 stages of this disease and those are Mild Nonproliferative Retinopathy, Moderate Nonproliferative Retinopathy, Severe Nonproliferative Retinopathy and Proliferative Retinopathy. Usually, the first three stages of this disease require no treatment but the doctor requires the patient to take medications in order to lower the blood sugar and control their blood pressure and cholesterol. The Proliferative Retinopathy is the one that needs surgery. This stage is already the advanced stage of Diabetic Retinopathy wherein the new blood vessels grow around the retina of the eye which has thin walls. The problem however, arises when the blood vessels leak. In such case, the vision is disrupted and causes loss of vision.
Laser treatment is an option in diabetic retinopathy surgery. In this case, the laser surgery makes the blood vessels thinner in order to prevent the leak of blood that could cause loss of visions. This is actually recommended for those blood vessels which are not bleeding yet. On the other hand, although laser treatment is still possible for bleeding blood vessels, vitrectomy is the most suitable treatment to restore the eyesight. The vitroues gel needs to be removed by making tiny incisions in the eye.
It has to be noted that after the diabetic retinopathy surgery, the patient has to wear an eye patch to protect the eyes although he can already be discharged from the hospital. Continuous medication and the use of eye drops are necessary to prevent complications. Our eyes are one of the most important parts of the body. Without our eyesight, we can’t do a lot of things and it will just make our lives very inconvenient. Whether you have diabetes or not, it is still necessary to have a regular check up with the doctor to avoid other complications.