[Evaluation of intravitreal injection practice patterns in Cotonou]

Intravitreal injections of medication are designed to obtain a high concentration in the posterior segment. We conducted a retrospective study of our practice of intravitreal injections to assess safety of the technique and short- and medium-term tolerability, and to analyze indications and the complications.

This analytic retrospective study focused on consecutive patients treated with intravitreal injections for the period of January 2015 to June 2016 in the "Lumière" ohthalmology clinic in Cotonou, with incidents or accidents during the injection procedure as a measure of safety. Included were all patients undergoing one or more intravitreal injections regardless of the type of product injected, who had undergone a complete ophthalmologic work-up prior to injection and who had been followed at one week (W1) and 1 month (M1) after treatment.

During the study period, we safely performed 124 intravitreal injections on 49 patients. The indications were diabetic macular edema in 53.06% and macular edema due to vein occlusions in 26.53%. The main complication observed was ocular hypertension in 60%, mainly related to triamcinolone injection. In 51.02%, the drug used was Ranibizumab, followed by Bevacizumab in 28.54% and Triamcinolone in 20.40%.

The main goal of intravitreal injection is to achieve instantly effective concentrations in the center of the globe. Intravitreal injection is a safe, feasible practice in our context. The male predominance observed in our series is explained by the low socio-economic status of women in our context as well as the economically difficult accessibility of important drugs such as anti-VEGF. Significant improvements in D7 and D30 visual acuity in our patients highlights the beneficial effects of the presence of the active molecule in the vitreous cavity for these indications.

Intravitreal injection is a common practice in our context, which is being performed safely. The indications are many, and ocular hypertension is a significant complication. The difficulties in terms of supply and preservation of the main drugs used (anti-VEGF) remains to be resolved.