Objective To investigate the clinical effect of panretinal laser photocoagulation for proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Methods 97 cases of proliferative diabetic retinopathy in our hospital from Feb 2016 to Mar 2019 were enrolled in the study, and were divided into 2 groups randomly. The control group received treatment of macular grid photocoagulation, while the observation group received whole retina laser photocoagulation. Data of visual acuity, macular fovea volume, retinal nerve fiber layer thickness around nipple and retinal thickness before and after operation were collected and analyzed, and quality of life scores were compared. Results Before treatment, there was no significant difference in retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, macular fovea volume and retinal thickness between the two groups (P>0.05), which was comparable. After different treatments, the three indexes mentioned above in the observation group were better than those in the control group (P<0.05). The total effective rate of the observation group was 79.59%, which was higher than that of the control group (59.18%, P<0.05). In addition, the scores of fine motion, accommodation ability, daily life and distant vision, light perception and movement in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Compared with macular grid-like photocoagulation, panretinal laser photocoagulation may improve the retinal nerve fiber layer thickness around the nipple and macular retinal thickness in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy. It promotes the recovery of visual acuity, improves the quality of life of patients, and has definite curative effect.