To evaluate the efficacy of preoperative intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin®; Genetech, San Francisco, CA, USA) injections of pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).

Thirty patients (30 eyes) who underwent PPV for treatment of PDR and received a preoperative intravitreal bevacizumab injection of 1.25 mg were retrospectively analyzed. The study group (group 1, 30 patients, 30 eyes) was compared with a control group (group 2, 29 patients, 30 eyes and matched with the study group for preoperative parameters) who underwent PPV without preoperative intravitreal bevacizumab injection.

In both groups, visual acuity improved but there was no statistical significance. Intraoperative vitreous hemorrhage occurred in 14 eyes (46.7%) from group 1 and 11 eyes (36.7%) from group 2. There was no statistical significance of intraoperative bleeding occurrence ( p =0.3). Postoperative vitreous hemorrhage occurred in 4 eyes from group 1 and 14 eyes from group 2. The group 1 had a lower incidence of postoperative hemorrhage than group 2 ( p =0.005).

Preoperative intravitreal bevacizumab injection appears effective in decreasing early postoperative vitreous hemorrhage and maybe technically helpful in PPV for PDR.