Pars plana vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane peeling for refractory diffuse diabetic macular edema.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) with internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling for management of refractory diffuse diabetic macular edema (DME).

Methods: In this prospective interventional case series, eyes with refractory diffuse DME unresponsive to macular photocoagulation and/or intravitreal bevacizumab, and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) ≥ 20/200 and ≤ 20/60 underwent triamcinolone-assisted PPV with ILM peeling. Pre- and postoperative evaluations included a complete ophthalmologic examination, fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography (OCT).