A client seeks medical care when he wrecks his care because of poor eyesight. At the time of admission, his blood glucose level was 390 mg/dL. The client is diagnosed with diabetes (type 2)

Question

The ophthalmologist must perform an urgent intravitreal injection. The nurse explains this to the client by stating the doctor will:
A) Just put a couple of drops in each of your eyes
B) Put a needle with syringe into your eyeball and inject some medication to decrease active bleeding.
C) Remove some of the vitreous from your eye by withdrawing it with a needle/syringe and then strip some of the membranes off your inner eye.
D) Use a laser to try to seal off any bleeding vessels in your eyeball.

Answer 1

Ans: B
Feedback:
People with type 2 diabetes may have retinopathy as a presenting symptom at the time of diagnosis. Intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF agents are also being used to reduce active neovascularization and vitreous hemorrhage. Other treatment strategies for diabetic retinopathy include laser photocoagulation applied directly to leaking microaneurysms and grid photocoagulation with a checkerboard pattern of laser burns applied to diffuse areas of leakage and thickening. Because laser photocoagulation destroys the proliferating vessels and the ischemic retina, it reduces the stimulus for further neovascularization. Vitrectomy may be used for removing vitreous hemorrhage and severing vitreoretinal membranes that develop.