The occurrence of high intraocular pressure (IOP) after vitrectomy for diabetic retinopathy (DR) is related to many factors, including the type and stage of DR, macular detachment, surgical methods, and the type of ocular tamponade. Early high IOP occurred mainly due to laser photocoagulation, inflammatory response, improper ocular tamponade, residual viscoelastic agents and ciliary body dysfunction. In addition to the above reasons, early-middle stage high IOP is also related to tamponade gas expansion peak, encircling scleral buckle and hyphema. The major reason for middle-stage high IOP is hyphema and silicon oil in anterior chamber. The reasons for late-stage high IOP are glaucoma, silicone oil emulsification, long-term use of glucocorticoid, and iris incision closure. Most high IOP can be controlled by proper treatment such as stopping use of glucocorticoid, anti-glaucoma eye drops and surgeries. But there are still a small number of patients with unexplained refractory high IOP, the mechanism need to be further explored.