 Diabetic retinopathy is the name given to the damage caused by diabetes to the retina in patients with this condition. It is the leading cause of vision loss in this group of patients who are mostly of working age. Patients with diabetes require regular eye examinations to look out for signs of these abnormal new vessels which can bleed into the vitreous. In the most severe form of diabetic eye disease proliferative diabetic retinopathy laser therapy is used to treat the back of the eye to try and prevent any further progression of these new proliferating blood vessels. However if a blood vessel has bled into the vitreous space, it prevents examination of the retina and the ability to provide any further preventative treatment for the patient. It can often take many months for these haemorrhages to clear, in which time the patient is left without any useful vision in that eye and the underlying disease is continuing to worsen. It is in these difficult situations an eye operation vitrectomy is required to remove the blood. 