A comparison of retrobulbar versus sub-Tenon's corticosteroid therapy for cystoid macular edema refractory to topical medications.

OBJECTIVE: The objective is to compare the effectiveness of retrobulbar and posterior sub-Tenon's injection of corticosteroids for treatment of post-cataract cystoid macular edema that was refractory to topical medications.

DESIGN: A retrospective study was performed.

PARTICIPANTS: A total of 48 patients (49 eyes) with post-cataract cystoid macular edema refractory to topical medications was studied.

INTERVENTION: Patients received either a single retrobulbar injection (18 eyes) or 3 biweekly posterior sub-Tenon's injections (31 eyes) of corticosteroids.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Patients were observed for clinical resolution of the cystoid macular edema, visual acuity, and intraocular pressure.

RESULTS: Both treatment methods resulted in significant improvement in visual acuity. The posterior sub-Tenon's group had a visual improvement from 20/92 pretreatment to 20/50 post-treatment (P = 0.0001) with a median follow-up of 12 months. The retrobulbar group had a visual improvement from 20/97 pretreatment to 20/58 post-treatment (P = 0.035) with a median follow-up of 10 months. The visual improvement was not significantly different between the two groups. The average intraocular pressure increased from a pretreatment level of 14.1 mmHg to a high of 17.7 mmHg (P < 0.00005) in the sub-Tenon's group. The average intraocular pressure increased from 15.1 mmHg to a high of 17.6 mmHg (P = 0.04) in the retrobulbar group.

CONCLUSIONS: Cystoid macular edema that persists after treatment with topical medications may improve after retrobulbar or posterior sub-Tenon's corticosteroid injections. There was no significant difference in outcome between the two treatment groups.