Diabetics increased risk of Retinopathy with Surgery


A recently completed Australian study has found that patients with Diabetes will have an increase in the risk of diabetic retinopathy after Cataract surgery.

All the test subjects were patients of 65 and over who suffered from diabetes and had cataract surgery at a Sydney eye clinic between 2004 and 2006 and results showed that after having phacoemulsification cataract surgery it was found the majority of patients that already had diabetic retinopathy had seen some form of increase in their condition. Those that had diabetes but did not have diabetic retinopathy experienced a larger chance of getting it.

For the study a phacoemulsification procedure was used. This involves the cataractous lens being broken apart using an ultrasound probe. The small pieces that are left are then vacuumed from the eye with a surgical tube. A pliable intraocular lens is then inserted into the eye through the same incision that took the cataract out.    

Diabetic retinopathy is the most common eye disease for those with diabetes, and is one of the largest causes of blindness in adults. In most cases Diabetic retinopathy causes the swelling of blood vessels and the leaking of fluid within the eye. In other cases irregular new blood vessels begin to grow on the surface of the retina, although symptoms of retinopathy take time to appear over a period they can get worse and at worst can lead to blindness in both eyes.

Retinopathy effects people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes; however regular eye checkups can help to spot retinopathy early and with treatment can help to prevent the condition from worsening.

Fortunately not all the news from the study was bad. The newer Phacoemulsification cataract surgery resulted in less people suffering an increase in the condition than older forms of the surgery.             

30th September 2009

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