Effectiveness of intraoperative optical coherence tomography on vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy

Purpose We sought to verify the effect of intraoperative optical coherence tomography (iOCT) on vitrectomy for the treatment of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Study design Retrospective study. Methods We reviewed 178 eyes with PDR treated with 25-gauge vitrectomy by a single surgeon between April 2013 and December 2017. In total, 98 eyes of 77 patients with PDR (mean age, 52.5 ± 11.7 years) treated with vitrectomy using iOCT (iOCT group) and 80 eyes of 60 patients with PDR (mean age, 53.1 ± 10.9 years) treated without iOCT (non-iOCT group) were included in the study. To determine the effects of combining vitrectomy with iOCT, a comparison was made of patients treated with this combination and patients treated with vitrectomy without iOCT. The effects of these treatments were assessed on the basis of intraoperative complications, reoperation ratios, postoperative complications, operation times, and postoperative visual acuity. Results The operation time was significantly reduced for the iOCT group (72.9 ± 23.9 min) when compared with the non-iOCT group (91.3 ± 31.2 min) ( P = .001). The incidences of intraoperative complications, reoperation, and postoperative complications did not differ significantly between the 2 groups ( P = .542, 0.258, and 0.860 respectively). Six months after surgery, the postoperative visual acuity did not differ significantly between the 2 groups ( P = .508). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the operation time was significantly correlated with iOCT (beta [standard partial regression coefficient] = − 0.28, P < .001), the fibrovascular proliferative membrane (beta = 0.17, P = .009), cataract surgery (beta = 0.22, P = .016), preoperative retinal photocoagulation (beta = − 0.14, P = .021), intraoperative complications (beta = 0.16, P = .023), and posterior vitreous detachment (beta = − 0.14, P = .04). Conclusion Use of iOCT reduced the operation time without affecting the incidence rates of intraoperative and postoperative complications, reoperation ratios, or postoperative visual acuities in patients who underwent vitreous surgery for PDR.