Systematic review of the efficacy and safety of stage I or II IOL implantation in patients with diabetic retinopathy.

BACKGROUND: Intraocular lens (IOL) implantation is required after vitrectomy combined with cataract surgery in diabetic retinopathy patients. However, the question of whether an IOL should be implanted in stage I after vitrectomy or stage II during silicone oil filling has been controversial, and there has been no systematic review of this clinical issue.

METHODS: WanFang, SinoMed CNKI, VIP, PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were systematically searched for relevant studies. The deadline was May 8, 2021. All studies of stage I or II IOL implantation in patients with diabetes who underwent vitrectomy were included. Revman 5.3 software was used for the meta-analysis.

RESULTS: Four studies, involving 253 eyes, were included. This study analyzed the literature with a common outcome index by meta-analysis and systematically evaluated the literature without a common outcome index. Four studies compared the efficacy and safety of the 2 sequential surgical methods in patients with diabetic retinopathy. The results of the meta-analysis showed that there was no significant difference in the efficacy and safety of stage II IOL implantation when compared with stage I IOL implantation (P > .05). One study showed that stage II cataract surgery with oil extraction resulted in better postoperative visual acuity and fewer complications than stage I cataract surgery with vitrectomy. One study showed that stage II IOL implantation during oil extraction had better postoperative visual acuity than stage I IOL implantation during vitrectomy without increasing surgical complications.

CONCLUSION: Vitrectomy combined with stage II IOL implantation is safer and more effective than stage I in patients with diabetic retinopathy; however, more clinical studies are needed to verify this.