Research Article Open Access

Safety and Effectiveness of Intravitreal Injection of Dexamethasone for Macular Edema Secondary to Retinal Vein Occlusion: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the efficacy and safety of intravitreal injection of dexamethasone (DEX) in treating macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion.

Method: Pubmed, Embase-clinical key, clinicaltrials.gov, Web of Science, and sinomed were searched to compare the application of DEX implant in patients with retinal vein occlusion secondary macular edema (RVO-ME). The central retinal thickness, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), postoperative intraocular pressure, and postoperative cataract were extracted. Revman 5.3 was used to analyse and evaluate the data.

Results: This study was based on six randomized trials and a retrospective study. A total of 393 eyes were studied. DEX implant could effectively reduce macular edema caused by retinal vein occlusion. After 6 months, the drug could significantly improve the patients’ BCVA [95% confidence interval (CI), 9.669–21.649, P=21.649]. At the same time, it also could significantly reduce the patients’ central retinal thickness (95% CI: 274.965–142.236, P ≤ 0.0000). DEX implant could increase the intraocular pressure in some patients and greatly increase the risk of cataracts.

Conclusion: DEX implant can effectively improve the BCVA of patients with RVO-ME, reduce the central thickness of the retina, and reduce the number of injections for a relatively long time. Therefore, intravitreal injection of DEX can be used as an effective method for treating RVO-ME.

Yue He*, Gao Xiaorong, Dan Yujiao, Chen Jie, Tian Gang

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