Laser surgery Laser surgery is performed to treat macular swelling and to prevent bleeding from abnormal diabetic retinal blood vessels. This is an office procedure in which short bursts of light are used to treat the retina.
Laser surgery is much better at stabilizing vision rather than improving it.
Therefore, laser treatment for edema is best done before a person notices blurred vision. If bleeding is already present, laser surgery may not be possible because the vitreous fluid inside your eye is too murky to allow laser light to reach the retina. The doctor will sometimes wait for the hemorrhage to clear before doing this type of laser treatment. It is therefore better for a person not to wait until symptoms of a hemorrhage develop before laser treatment is done. If there is blood in the eye that does not clear on its own, or if scar tissue causes a retinal detachment, you may need an operation called vitrectomy.