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Surgical Management of Diabetic Macular Edema

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Abstract

Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a major cause of visual impairment worldwide. Currently, the first line of treatment of DME is intravitreal pharmacotherapy. However, pars plana vitrectomy, with or without adjunctive techniques, remains an important tool in cases of recalcitrant DME. Pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) can aid in resolving macular edema by relieving vitreomacular traction, increasing retinal and vitreous oxygenation, and reducing intravitreal vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) load. While there is clear evidence to suggest the role of PPV in eyes with a clinically visible taut hyaloid, the absence of evidence of vitreomacular traction should not be used as an exclusion criterion. This chapter discusses the role and technique of PPV and adjunctive procedures such as internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling in the management of DME.

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Mikhail, M., Hassan, T.S. (2021). Surgical Management of Diabetic Macular Edema. In: Jain, A., Natarajan, S., Saxena, S. (eds) Cutting-edge Vitreoretinal Surgery. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4168-5_19

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