Does preoperative intravitreal bevacizumab reduce complications of vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy?

Abstract

Proliferative diabetic retinopathy carries a high risk of blindness if it is not timely treated. The treatment many times includes vitrectomy. Bevacizumab, an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor, may decrease intraoperative complications. Searching in Epistemonikos database, which is maintained by screening 20 databases, we identified three systematic reviews including 9 randomized trials. We combined the evidence using meta-analysis and generated a summary of findings table following the GRADE approach. We concluded that bevacizumab probably decreases time and intraoperative bleeding, but there is uncertainty regarding its effects on visual acuity, and it might increase the risk of cardiovascular events.