Short-term Impact of Intravitreal Drug Injection on Intraocular Pressure and Its Correlation to the Ocular Axial Length

Abstract

Intravitreal injection of any drug may induce intraocular volume increase and therefore IOP rise is a strong possibility after any intravitreal drug injection. Although acute IOP spike is mostly transient, it still may have a negative effect on ocular circulation as high IOP may compromise the optic nerve head and/or central retinal artery blood flow and hinder axonal transport. We studied the changes in IOP immediately postinjection by studying 60 eyes in which IVI of anti-VEGFs was indicated.The preinjectionIOPwas measured then it was remeasured five, 15 and 30 minutes after IVI. The possible risk factors that may influence IOP elevation after IVI injection were studied. Axial length, lens status and number of previous IVI were our variables. The study was in the duration from December 2013 to June 2014. Patients with prior ocular surgeries (except uneventful cataract extraction), preexisting ocular pathologies that cause elevation in IOP (e.g. glaucoma, uveitis or trauma), topical or systemic medications that cause elevation in IOP (e.g. corticosteroids), history of previous IVI of corticosteroids and any patient subjected to paracentesis during the procedure of IVI were excluded.