Prefilled syringes for intravitreal injection reduce preparation time.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Clinical Pharmacy
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Rising demand for intravitreal therapies necessitates improved resource utilization.
• Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors drive increased intravitreal treatment needs.
• Optimizing preparation processes is key to meeting future demand.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the time required for preparing intravitreal injections using prefilled syringes versus vials.
• To assess the efficiency gains from using prefilled syringes in routine clinical practice.

Main Methods:

• A multi-center time and motion study video-recorded 172 intravitreal injection preparations.
• Preparations included ranibizumab prefilled syringes (n=56), ranibizumab vials (n=56), and aflibercept vials (n=60).
• Preparation times for individual steps were extracted and compared across the three types.

Main Results:

• Prefilled syringes eliminated several preparation steps, reducing overall time.
• Total preparation time was 40.3-45.1 seconds for vials.
• Prefilled syringes saved an average of 25.5 seconds (p < 0.0001) per preparation.
• Aflibercept vials took 3.7 seconds longer to prepare than ranibizumab vials (p = 0.0014).

Conclusions:

• Prefilled syringes streamline intravitreal injection preparation, reducing time and potential contamination risks.
• The time saved by prefilled syringes can enhance resource utilization.
• Efficiency gains may allow for increased patient throughput or delegation to non-specialists.