Safety & efficacy of single subconjunctival triamcinolone 5 mg depot vs topical loteprednol post cataract surgery: less drop cataract surgery

• Main Authors: Jagadeesh Kumar Reddy, Vivek Chaitanya, Neeraj Shah, Venkata Prabhakar Guduru, Shadab Khan, Siddharthan Kuttupalayam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Press of International Journal of Ophthalmology (IJO PRESS) 2019-05-01
• Series: International Journal of Ophthalmology
• Subjects: intraocular pressure; subconjunctival triamcinolone acetonide; phacoemulsification; loteprednol; cells/flare; less drop cataract surgery
• Online Access: http://www.ijo.cn/en_publish/2019/5/20190511.pdf
• ISSN: 2222-3959; 2227-4898

AIM: To do a randomized prospective interventional study for comparing the effects of a single subconjunctival triamcinolone acetonide (SCTA) injection to tapering topical loteprednol in patients undergoing phacoemulsification surgery under topical anesthesia. METHODS: A total of 400 patients were randomized into 2 groups; Group A (200 patients) received 5 mg SCTA at the end of surgery and topical ketorolac tromethamine (0.5%) with ofloxacin (0.3%) combination for 3wk. Group B (200 patients) received tapering topical loteprednol etabonate (0.5%) along with ofloxacin (0.3%) and ketorolac tromethamine (0.5%) for 3wk. Outcomes evaluated were intraocular pressure (IOP), anterior chamber cells/flare and macular oedema postoperatively at 1, 6 and 12wk. RESULTS: Baseline parameters were almost similar in both the groups. No statistical difference was seen between the preoperative and postoperative IOP values for Group A (P=0.82) and Group B (P=0.61) and postoperative IOP values in between both groups (P=0.14) at 1wk. Incidence of cells/flare postoperative was statistically not significant (P=0.82) in both groups at all follow up visits. Postoperative macular oedema was not observed at any follow up visit. CONCLUSION: SCTA appears to be an effective alternative to prolong postoperative topical steroid use.