Efficacy and safety of intracameral triamcinolone acetonide to control postoperative inflammation after phacotrabeculectomy

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of intracameral triamcinolone acetonide in phacotrabeculectomy. SETTING: Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital University of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China. DESIGN: Prospective randomized controlled trial. METHODS: Patients having combined trabeculectomy and cataract surgery were enrolled from March 2010 through January 2012. The patients were randomly divided into 4 groups. At the conclusion of the surgery, Group A received intracameral triamcinolone acetonide 0.5 mg, Group B received triamcinolone acetonide 1.0 mg, Group C received triamcinolone acetonide 2.0 mg. Group D was the control group and did not receive triamcinolone acetonide. All patients had a conventional 2-side trabeculectomy and phacoemulsification with foldable posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation. Visual acuity and clinical indexes of anterior segment inflammation were assessed 1, 7, 14, and 28 days postoperatively. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-six eyes of 126 patients with a mean age of 64.09 years +/- 8.22 (SD) were enrolled. The eyes treated with triamcinolone acetonide had better visual acuity and less anterior chamber inflammation than the control eyes. Intracameral triamcinolone acetonide was highly effective in controlling postoperative inflammation in phacotrabeculectomy, and triamcinolone acetonide 1.0 mg provided the best postoperative result. CONCLUSION: Intracameral injection of triamcinolone acetonide in phacotrabeculectomy resulted in a significant reduction in aqueous inflammation and improvement in visual acuity. (C) 2013 ASCRS and ESCRS