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BACKGROUND: The «gold standart» for surgical treatment of patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR is vitreoretinal surgery. However, the question of the timing of the removal of primary cataract in this category of patients remains open.AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of phacoemulsification of primary cataract by the second stage after vitreoretinal surgery of PDR patientsMETHODS: 67 cases of surgery treatment of patients with PDR and complicated primary cataract were enrolled. This patients were divided into two groups depending on the treatment tactics. In the 1st group patients were subjected to a two–step surgical procedure: vitreoretinal surgery with silicone oil tamponade performed as the 1st step in their treatment; followed by the 2d step, phacoemulsifi tion surgery and silicone oil removal, and the IOL implantation, respectively. In the 2d group phacoemulsifi tion performed simultaneously with vitreoretinal surgery: phacoemulsification, IOL implantation, vitreoretinal surgery with silicone oil tamponade. The second step differed in the removal of silicone oil from the vitreous cavity.RESULTS: Visual functions improved in 88.6% of cases in group 1, and in 68.7% in group 2.CONCLUSIONS: Outcomes of the preliminary studies suggest that it is more viable to perform phacoemulsification surgery sometime later along with silicone oil removal on PDR patients with complicated primary cataract. This sequence of treatment procedure ensures a more gentle approach to the anatomic structures of the eye during the first stage (vitreoretinal surgery) and contributes to the reduction in the number of intraoperative and postoperative complications.

The literature review compares the combined (vitreoretinal surgery with silicone tamponade and phacoemulsification of incipient cataract with intraocular lens implantation) and two-stage (phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation as a second step, simultaneously with the silicon oil removal, after vitreoretinal surgery) surgical treatment of patients with advanced proliferative diabetic retinopathy and complicated incipient cataract. Modern concepts of treatment tactics of this disease, its efficacy are analyzed. Benefits and drawbacks of each of the discussed surgical treatment methods are specified.