Triamcinolone acetonide as an adjuvant to membrane peeling surgery: a pilot study

To evaluate the clinical outcome and complications of intravitreal injections of triamcinolone acetonide as adjuvant to reduce postoperative macular edema in patients undergoing pars plana vitrectomy for epiretinal membranes.

This retrospective comparative study included 22 patients (22 eyes) who underwent pars plana vitrectomy with membrane peeling for the treatment of idiopathic epiretinal membrane. Fifteen eyes (15 patients) received an intravitreal injection of 4 mg (0.1 cc) of triamcinolone acetonide at the end of surgery, and no injection was performed for 7 eyes (7 patients). Main outcome measures were visual acuity and intraocular pressure. Minimum follow-up was 3 months.

Twenty-two eyes of 22 patients were included in the study. The follow-up ranged from 3 to 12 months. Visual acuity improved in both groups at 3 months: logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution -0.26 ± 0.19 in the triamcinolone acetonide group (P = .001) and -0.26 ± 0.13 in the control group (P = .002). However, there was no statistically significant difference in visual acuity improvement 1, 3, and 12 months postoperatively in the triamcinolone acetonide group compared with the control group (P = .79, = .94, and = .21, respectively). There was no significant difference in intraocular pressure change between the two groups during the follow-up period (P > .05).

The current pilot study suggests that postoperative intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide does not lead to better visual outcomes in patients undergoing pars plana vitrectomy for the treatment of idiopathic epiretinal membranes.