Objective To analyze the risk factors of no light perception (NLP) after vitreoretinal surgery for proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Methods Retrospectively analyzed the follow-up data of 882 patients (1000 eyes) with PDR who had undergone vitreoretinal surgery. The standard of NLP was: in a darkroom, one eye was covered, and the other one could not catch the candlelight 30 cm in front of the eye. The number of eyes with NLP was counted and the clinical data of the eyes with or without NLP were analyzed and compared. chi;2 test was used to analyze the risk factors of NLP. Results In these 1000 eyes with PDR,the postoperative visual acuity was NLP in 22 eyes (2.2%) and light perception in 978 eyes (97.8%). Comparing with the patients with light perception, the patients with NLP had severer disease condition, including ante-operative neovascular glaucoma (NVG)(36.4%), tension combined with retinal detachment 50%, and a need for lens excision during the surgery (45.5%) and for silicone oil filling at the end of the operation (63.6%). After the surgery, NVG was found in 14 eyes, un-reattached retina in 5 eyes (before the surgery was VI stage of PDR), and optic nerve atrophy and retinal vessel atresia in 3 eyes, which significantly differed from which in the patients with light perception (Plt;0.001，P=0.004, (Plt;0.001). The differences of sex, diabetes type and PDR stage between the NLP group and non-NLP group were not significant (P=0.136, P=0.681, P=0.955). Conclusions The incidence of NLP after vitreoretinal surgery for proliferative diabetic retinopathy is low. The direct causes were NVG, optic nerve atrophy, retinal vessel atresia and retinal redetachment, while the sex, type of diabetes mellitus and stage of PDR show no statistical relation to the occurrence of NLP after surgery. (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis,2007,23:244-247)