The Factors Related with Epithelial Healing after Vitrectomy for Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To evaluate the factors that contribute to protraction of epithelial damage after vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). METHODS: We retrospectively studied factors that may be related to protraction of epithelial damage and recovery time after epithelial damage in 76 eyes of 66 patients who underwent vitrectomy for PDR in our hospital between August 2003 and August 2004. The 76 eyes in this study were divided into two groups 17 eyes (22.4 %) with epithelial damage persisting for more than 14 days after vitrectomy (protracted group) and 59 eyes (77.6 %) without epithelial damage or signs of epithelial damage that disappeared in less than 13 days after vitrectomy (non-protracted group). We compared factors that may be related to protraction of epithelial damage and recovery time from epithelial damage between the two groups. RESULTS: The average recovery time from epithelial damage was 45.7+/-26.6 days in the protracted group and 2.6+/-2.4 days in the non-protracted group. Intraoperative epithelial debridement significantly delayed epithelial healing in the protracted group (P<0.05). The level of BUN, insulin use, and epithelial defect during surgery were correlated with the duration of epithelial damage (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that protracted recovery from epithelial damage after vitrectomy for PDR is correlated with impaired renal function, the method of treatment, and epithelial debridement. Therefore, particular attention should be paid to corneal epithelial damage in patients with these factors.