Effect on Intraocular Pressure of Intravitreal Dexamethasone Implant

INTRODUCTION: To investigate the effect of intravitreally administered 0.7 mg dexamethasone implant on intraocular pressure. METHODS: The study included patients with macular edema due to retinal vein occlusion or diabetic retinopathy who underwent intravitreal dexamethasone implant administration. Patients with glaucoma, ocular hypertension, and neovascularization at the angle were excluded from the study. The intraocular pressure was measured using applanation tonometry before and one week, two weeks, one month, three months, and six months after the procedure. Topical anti-glaucomatous is initiated in the participants with intraocular pressure equal to or higher than 22 mmHg. RESULTS: One hundred and five eyes of 101 patients comprising 55 (54.45%) male and 46 (45.54%) females were included in the study. The mean intraocular pressure was 14.43+-2.53 mmHg before injection, and the mean postprocedure intraocular pressures were 15.31+-3.66 mmHg (p=0.132) at the first day, 14.87+-3.11 mmHg (p=0.371) at the first week, 16.78+-3.82 mmHg (p=0.001) at the second week, 17.38+-4.30 mmHg (p=0.001) at the first month, 16.92+-4.55 mmHg (p=0.001) at the third month and, 15.59+-2.78 mmHg (p=0.005) at the sixth month, respectively. Five patients (%4.8) experienced intraocular pressure rise >21mmHg after the procedure in which IOP was controlled with anti-glaucomatous medication in all of them. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Intravitreal dexamethasone implantation may be interpreted as a safe treatment modality in patients with retinal vein occlusion or diabetic retinopathy in terms of secondary IOP increase. However, patients should undergo regular IOP checks during routine follow-up visits