The Effect of Bilateral Intravitreal Ranibizumab Administration on Pain in Diabetic Retinopathy

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the effect of bilateral intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) on pain in diabetic patients. Material and Method: Of the 42 patients who underwent bilateral IVR for diabetic retinopathy and macular edema, 42 eyes injected first were considered as group 1 and 42 eyes injected second were considered as group 2. During the injection, pain was assessed using a numerical scale (NS) and a verbal category scale (VCS) . Results: The mean age of 20 male (47.7%) patients in the groups was 59.90±6.03 years, and the mean age of 22 female (52.3%) patients was 60.72±3.88 years (p=0.52). In Group 1, the NS was 3.78±1.11, while in Group 2 it was 4.14±1.37, the difference was statistically significant (p=0.01). In group 1, VCS was 2.30±0.71, while in group 2, VCS was 2.73±0.93, the difference was statistically significant (p=0.01). Conclusion: In diabetic patients who underwent bilateral IVR in the same session, pain sensation in the first injected eye was found to be less. This should be taken into consideration in bilateral IVR application.