Evaulation of Incidence and Risk Factors for Intraocular Pressure Elevation After Intravitreal Triamcinolone Acetonide Injection

Objectives: To investigate the effect of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA) used for the macular edema on intraocular pressure\ud(IOP) and to determine the risk factors for IOP elevation.\udMaterials and Methods: This retrospective study included 93 eyes of 85 patients who had 4 mg intravitreal triamcinolone injection.\udOf the 85 patients, 56 (65.8%) had diabetic macular edema, 22 (25.8%) had branch retinal, and 7 (8.2%) had central retinal vein\udocclusion. IOP changes after injection as well as the relation between IOP elevation and age, sex, lens status, etiology of macular edema,\udbaseline IOP were evaluated.\udResults: Fourty-six male and 39 female patients with mean age 61.58±9.5 years were evaluated. IOP was recorded to be >24 mmHg in\ud30 eyes (32.2%) at follow-up visit after an average of 7.5 weeks. Normalization of IOP with medication was achieved in all IOP elevated\udeyes. Fifteen of 29 eyes (51.7%) with vein occlusion and 15 of 64 eyes (23.3%) with diabetic macula edema had IOP elevation (p=0.01).\udTwenty-six of 73 phakic (35.6%) and 4 of 20 pseudophakic eyes (20%) had IOP >24 mmHg (p=0.16). There was no association between\udIOP elevation and sex (p=0.33). Baseline IOP was 16.47±2.8 mmHg in eyes which had elevated IOP and 14.78±2.4 mmHg in the\udremaining. There was significant relation between IOP elevation and baseline IOP level (p=0.01).\udConclusion: Elevated IOP is common side effect after IVTA, but normalization is usually achieved by topical medication. Patients\udwith baseline IOP ≥15 mmHg and vein occlusion have higher risk for IOP elevation. (Turk J Ophthalmol 2015; 45: 86-91