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Home > Diabetes Center > About Diabetes > Diabetic Retinopathy

How to Treat it

For nonproliferative retinopathy that has led to macular edema, laser photocoagulation is used to seal the leaking blood vessels, which decreases tissue swelling, thereby decreasing the likelihood of further vision deterioration.
For proliferative retinopathy, laser surgery known as panretinal photocoagulation is used to stop the growth of new blood vessels, thereby decreasing the likelihood of vitreous hemorrhage and retinal detachment.
Vitrectomy is a surgical treatment that can help restore vision by removing a vitreous hemorrhage or repairing retinal detachment.
Several new treatments are being evaluated to determine if they retard progression of retinopathy or decrease vision loss associated with it. These treatments include oral medications for nonproliferative disease and intraocular injections of anti-inflammatory medications (steroids) for macular edema.

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