Diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is a medical condition in people with diabetes mellitus that leads to full blindness. This state develops at type I and type II diabetes. In case of diabetes changes in the vessels begin to occur after 5-10 years from the beginning of the disease; more than 85% of patients suffer from retinopathy after 10-15 years. This state is dangerous because of a probable retinal bleeding, eye-ball bleeding or retinal edema leading to a significant loss of vision acuity and blindness.

Diagnostic of diabetic retinopathy

Patients who are on the initial stages of diabetic retinopathy can periodically experience blurring of vision, see a blurry picture with floaters. Vision acuity decreases only in case of the significant changes of eye fundus.

We recommend to start visiting ophthalmologist not more than after 2-3 years from the moment when diabetes mellitus is diagnosed – this will help to prevent the disease and arrange proper treatment. The visit at ophthalmologist includes visual acuity check, measurement of intraocular pressure, ophthalmic fundus examination with Goldman lens and optical coherence tomography.

Diabetic Retinopathy Treatment

In our clinic in Bahrain we treat our patients with diabetic retinopathy in a complex manner while we work not only on the level of ophthalmologists but also other specialists.

Methods that we apply:

1. Conservative therapy (normalization of blood sugar level, blood pressure, cholesterol level and triglycerides). This helps to compensate diabetes mellitus and minimize any possible complications.
2. Intravitreous introduction of drugs in case of neovascular events. It helps to reduce the quantity of such vessels thus reducing their fragility and possibility of hemorrhage.
3. Laser photocoagulation of the retina if there are hemorrhages in the retina which allows decreasing of the progression of diabetic retinopathy.
4. Vitreoretinal surgery in difficult cases. This solution makes it possible to preserve vision even in cases that were considered hopeless one or two decades ago.

IMPORTANT: Performing diagnostic examinations is an obligatory element of preparation for the operation!

Course of surgery

Vitreous body removal surgery on average takes from 40 minutes to 3 hours and can be performed with or without hospitalization. The specialist first applies local or combined anesthesia

Rehabilitation

The recovery period directly depends on the amount of intervention, the chosen substitute substance, and the condition of the retina, so it can take from a couple of days to several weeks. During this time, the patient is recommended to avoid physical and psycho-emotional stress. In addition, the postoperative dynamic monitoring of the operated eye by an ophthalmologist is of particular importance since recovery can be individualized.

Many years of previous experience in ophthalmology allows us here to evaluate and offer effective diabetic retinopathy treatment in Bahrain to patients with diabetic mellitus, together with endocrinologists, diabetic foot specialists, neurologists, cardiologists and nephrologists.