Intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide in eyes with recurrent postvitrectomy diabetic vitreous hemorrhage

To evaluate the efficacy of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (IVT) for the management of recurrent post-vitrectomy diabetic vitreous hemorrhage (VH).

Interventional case series.

Five eyes of five patients with recurrent postvitrectomy diabetic VH done more than three times where the common standard treatments has failed were administered 4 mg (0.1 ml) of triamcinolone acetonide ophthalmic suspension. The efficacy of IVT injection was assessed on day one; weeks one, two, and four; and months two and three.

The visual acuity (VA) at the time of IVT injection ranged from hand motion (HM) to counting fingers (CF). Of the five eyes, four eyes experienced clearing of VH on seven, four, one, and one week after IVT injection with visible triamcinolone precipitates with blood clot in the inferior aspect of fundus. Of these four eyes, two eyes had visual improvement with 20/50 and 20/200, whereas two eyes developed recurrent VH. VH was not cleared in one eye, which required surgical procedure.

IVT injection may be beneficial for clearing recurrent post-vitrectomy VH, possibly by mechanical sedimentation of triamcinolone with retained blood clot.