Diabetic Eye Disease Injections

What is An Intravitreal Injection?

An Intravitreal Injection is a procedure in which medicines are injected directly into the jelly-like material inside your eye known as the vitreous.

What Conditions Does the Intravitreal Injection Help?

Intravitreal Injections are a common method to treat retinal diseases such as:

• Age-related Macular Degeneration
• Diabetic Macular Oedema
• Macular Oedema Secondary to Retinal Vein Occlusion.

How is Intravitreal Injection Performed?

Intravitreal Injection treatment is an outpatient procedure that is performed in the minor procedure room of our office.

Every effort is made to make the procedure as painless as possible.

Day of the Intravitreal Injection

This procedure can be safely performed on an outpatient basis and involves very little discomfort.

Our friendly Orthoptists will help prepare you for the procedure and will assist your doctor during the procedure.

The steps of the procedure involve:

• Numbing your eye with topical anaesthetic drops.
• A special instrument called a "speculum" may be used to gently keep your eye open.
• Your eye will then be washed with an antiseptic solution.
• You may feel some gentle pressure during the injection, which is over very quickly.
• After the injection the eye is rinsed with sterile saline, and some soothing lubricant drops.
• Your eye may then be covered with a soft pad.

After the Intravitreal Injection

After the therapy, some patients may:

• see "floaters" in their vision which may last for a day or two
• develop superficial bleeding/bruising on the white surface of their eye, which may take a week or so to fade away
• it is common to feel some gritty discomfort for the first 24 hours or so, which can be eased with some lubricant eye-drops.

How often will I need to have Intravitreal Injection?

The majority of patients will need to have this procedure repeated at regular intervals in order to maintain good vision.

In most cases treatment is given on a monthly basis to start with, at least for the first 3 months.

The interval between injections can then be extended in many people, depending on how quickly the eye responds to the treatment.

Possible Risk or Complications of the Intravitreal Injection

You should report to your ophthalmologist if you experience any of the following symptoms after the procedure:

• Flashes in your eye
• A sudden increase in floaters in your eye
• Redness
• Pain
• Reduced vision

Any of the above symptoms could be a sign of infection or other complications, and you should alert your ophthalmologist immediately.