Diabetic Retinopathy

Laser treatment (photocoagulation) can be an effective treatment for diabetic retinopathy, but it does not cure the disease. It can prevent, delay, and sometimes reverse vision loss. Without either laser treatment or surgery, vision loss caused by diabetic retinopathy and its complications may get worse until blindness occurs. So early treatment is vital to slowing vision loss, which can happen quickly.

When diabetic retinopathy causes bleeding (hemorrhage) into the vitreous gel, extensive scar tissue formation, or retinal detachment, surgical removal of the vitreous gel (vitrectomy) may be needed before laser treatment is considered.

Unfortunately, by the time some people are diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy, it is often too late for treatment to provide much benefit. Even with treatment, vision will continue to decline.

Early detection of retinopathy through yearly eye exams can provide the opportunity to have laser treatment when it is most effective.

Other Treatment Choices

Laser photocoagulation uses the heat from a laser to seal or destroy abnormal, leaking blood vessels in the retina.

What To Think About

Laser treatment (photocoagulation) can prevent or delay the progression of diabetic retinopathy, but it is not a cure.²

• Laser treatment for macular edema lowers the risk of moderate vision loss by 20% in people who have mild to moderate diabetic retinopathy.²
• Pan-retinal laser treatment is used to treat several spots on the retina during one or, most often, two sessions. It reduces the risk of serious bleeding and the progression of severe proliferative retinopathy. It also decreases the need for more invasive surgery (vitrectomy) by 50% in people with type 2 diabetes and people age 40 and older with type 1 diabetes who already have severe retinopathy.²

Laser photocoagulation can result in some loss of vision, because it destroys some of the nerve cells in the retina. With pan-retinal photocoagulation, this most often affects the outside (peripheral) vision, because the laser is directed at that area. Your vision may be worse right after treatment. But vision loss caused by laser treatment is mild compared with the vision loss that may be caused by untreated retinopathy.