Triamcinolone as Adjunctive Treatment to Laser Panretinal Photocoagulation for Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy

The current gold standard for the treatment of proliferative diabetic retinopathy is panretinal photocoagulation. Therefore this study is designed using both treatments in the same patient: intravitreal triamcinolone plus panretinal photocoagulation in one eye, compared to panretinal photocoagulation alone in the contralateral eye. These patients had their visual acuity measured and complete ophthalmological examination was performed, including macular slit lamp examination, fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography.

Patients with symmetric proliferative diabetic retinopathy without high risk characteristics receive laser therapy in both eyes and triamcinolone injections in one eye. For the triamcinolone injections, numbing drops, antibiotic drops, and drops to dilate the pupil, and possibly and anesthetic injection, are put in the eye before the medicine is injected into the vitreous. Patients return for follow-up visits 1 day, 1 and 4 weeks after the injection, and then 3 and 6 months. Patients whose condition does not improve may undergo new evaluation.