Intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide as an additional tool in pars plana vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy

PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of intravitreal injections of crystalline triamcinolone acetonide as an adjunctive procedure in pars plana vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy. METHODS: This nonrandomized comparative study included 30 patients (32 eyes) who underwent standardized pars plana vitrectomy for treatment of proliferative diabetic retinopathy and who received an intravitreal injection of 25 mg triamcinolone acetonide at the end of surgery. Mean follow-up time was 5.60 +/- 5.14 months. The study group was compared with a control group (32 eyes) matched with the study group for preoperative and intraoperative parameters and who underwent pars plana vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy without intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide. RESULTS: The study group and the control group did not vary significantly in frequency of postoperative retinal detachment, re-pars plana vitrectomy, or postoperative enucleation or phthisis bulbi, or in best postoperative visual acuity, visual acuity at end of the study, or gain in visual acuity. CONCLUSIONS: In this pilot study, the study group with pars plana vitrectomy and intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide injection compared with the nonrandomized control group without intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide injection did not show a higher than usual rate of postoperative complications. As a corollary, however, the data do not suggest the adjunct use of 25 mg intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide combined with pars plana vitrectomy as treatment of proliferative diabetic retinopathy.