Comparison of the Efficacy Between an Intravitreal and a Posterior Subtenon Injection of Triamcinolone Acetonide for the Treatment of Diffuse Diabetic Macular Edema/Diffüz Diyabetik Makula Ödemi Tedavisinde Triamsinolon Asetonidin Intravitreal ve Posterior Subtenon Enjeksiyonlarinin Etkinliginin Karsilastirilmasi

To compare the efficacy of an intravitreal injection to a posterior subtenon injection of triamcinolone acetonide for the treatment of diffuse diabetic macular edema. Sixty patients with diabetes mellitus presenting with diffuse diabetic macular edema were recruited for the study. In each patient, one eye received a 4.0 mg (0.1 mL) intravitreal (IVT) injection of TA and the other eye was treated with a 40 mg (1.0 mL) posterior subtenon (PST) injection of triamcinolone acetonide (TA). We measured the visual acuity, the intraocular pressure (IOP) and the thickness of the macula using optical coherence tomography (OCT) before treatment and at one, three and six months after treatment. Eyes treated with PST showed 1-3 lines of improvement in Snellen's acuity from their pre- injection baseline visual status. The eyes in the IVT group showed 1-3 lines of improvement in Snellen's acuity in 80% of the treated eyes, but 20% of the treated eyes did not display any benefit at the end of six months. The difference in acuity between an IVT injection and a PST injection at six months post-treatment was statistically significant (p