Retrobulbar injection with triamcinolone acetonide for macular edema caused by retinal vein occlusion

Objective To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of retrobulbar injection with triamcinolone acetonide(TA) for macular edema caused by retinal vein occlusion(RVO).Design Retrospective case series.Participants 21 eyes of 21 patients with macular edema caused by RVO.Methods Retrobulbar injection with TA 40 mg was performed on 21 eyes.The visual acuity,intraocular pressure, fundus fluorescein angiography(FFA) and macular central thickness under the optical coherence tomography(OCT) were recorded and analyzed before and after treatment.The follow-up duration was 6-11 months.Main Outcome Measures The visual acuity and the macular central thickness of OCT.Result Visual acuity was improved at the end of follow-up in 16 eyes(76.2%) and unchanged in 5 eyes(23.8%).Macular central thickness was(287.55±121.70)μm at the end of follow-up and(617.23±185.58)μm before treatment. The difference was statistically significant(P=0.000).After treatment,the comparison of visual acuity and macular central thickness between CRVO patients and BRVO patients,as well as between ischemic RVO patients and non-ischemic RVO patients had no significant difference(P0.05).In patients of course less than 6 months,the visual prognosis after treatment is better than that of before treatment (P=0.011,0.01),while in patients of course more than 6 months,no difference of vision could be detected before and after treatment(P= 0.583).The result of FFA showed decrease of fluorescein leakage.During follow-up,intraocular pressure of all patients was in the normal range.Recurrence of macular edema was found in 8 eyes 2 to 6 months after treatment.Conclusions Retrobulbar injection with TA is a safe,effective,and easy method to treat macular edema caused by RVO.Early treatment can get better efficacy.