Injection of triamcinolone acetonide into the posterior sub-tenon capsule for treatment of diabetic macular edema.

Abstract

To compare eyes that received treatment with untreated fellow eyes to assess the effectiveness of injection of 20 mg of triamcinolone acetonide (TA) into the posterior sub-Tenon capsule for treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME). Nine adult patients (mean age, 60.4 years) with DME in both eyes were followed up for 3 months after unilateral treatment. We compared central macular thickness before and after treatment with those of the untreated fellow eye. In 9 eyes injected with 20 mg of TA, the mean central macular thickness +/- SD was 624.8 +/- 173.7 microm before treatment. In the fellow eyes, it was 452.8 +/- 235.2 microm. There was no significant difference between the two groups (P=0.10, unpaired t-test). One month after injection, it was 434.0 +/- 120.7 microm in injected eyes (P=0.017, paired t-test) and 462.2 +/- 232.7 microm in fellow eyes (P=0.70, paired t-test), and after 3 months, the respective values were 423.1 +/- 186.3 microm (P=0.052, paired t-test) and 478.3 +/- 269.1 microm (P=0.65, paired t-test). Injection of 20 mg of TA into the posterior sub-Tenon capsule effectively reduces macular thickening due to DME, at least in the short term.