Patient Perception of Dicomfort and Change in Viion and Functional tatu Aociated with Intravitreal Triamcinolone Injection

Purpoe To ae patient perception concerning dicomfort and change in viion aociated with intravitreal triamcinolone injection (IVTA). Deign Propective conecutive cae erie. Method Fifty patient treated with IVTA between June 2003 and February 2005 were interviewed by telephone 10 to 12 week after injection. Each quetion wa anwered on a 1 to 5 cale. Reult There wa no ignificant difference in reported amount of ocular dicomfort pre-injection v pot-injection (1.0 v 1.1, repectively). Expected pain level (2.9) wa higher than the actual pain level (1.6; P < .001). Patient’ elf-reported viion improved from 2.7 to 3.7 (P < .001). Thirty (60%) patient reported improved viion and 20 (40%) reported no change. Thirty-three (66%) patient reported more viual improvement than expected. Concluion Patient expectation of dicomfort during IVTA wa greater than their actual experience; approximately two-third of patient reported improved viion and about one-third reported improved functional tatu after injection.