Optimal Timing of Cataract Surgery and Panretinal Photocoagulation for Diabetic Retinopathy

The Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) concluded that panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) should be performed before cataract surgery in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (1). It is also preferable to perform focal photocoagulation for macular edema before PRP (2). Recently, adoption of minimally invasive cataract surgery has reduced the postoperative progression of retinopathy (3). Patients in the ETDRS (1) were enrolled in the 1980s, however, and the surgical procedures included intracapsular and extracapsular cataract extraction; thus, there was a major difference in surgical invasiveness compared with the small-incision phacoemulsification cataract surgery currently performed. Accordingly, it was necessary to review the optimum timing of PRP (4). Therefore, we conducted this hospital-based retrospective cohort study on the timing …