AIM: To investigate the effect of preoperative injection of triamcinolone acetonide(TA)with 25G minimally invasive vitreoretinal surgery(VRS)in treating proliferative diabetic retinopathy(PDR)and the prognosis of patients.

METHODS: A total of 108 patients(108 eyes)with PDR to be treated by VRS were randomly divided into two groups. Fifty-four patients, treated with intravitreal injection of TA at 1wk before surgery were included into the VRS+TA group, and 54 cases directly treated by VRS were included into the VRS group. The surgical effect, uncorrected visual acuity(at 3mo after surgery), the best corrected visual acuity, the intraocular pressure(before surgery and at 1wk, 1 and 3mo after surgery)and complications were observed.

RESULTS: The surgical time, electrocoagulation rate, rate of iatrogenic hole and bleeding rate during surgery were significantly shorter or lower in VRS+TA group than in VRS group(P<0.05)while the intraocular filler showed no significant difference between the two groups(P>0.05). At 3mo after surgery, the uncorrected visual acuity and the best corrected visual acuity were improved significantly(P<0.05)while there was no significant difference between groups(P>0.05). At 1 and 3mo after surgery, the intraocular pressure of VRS+TA group was significantly higher than that before surgery(P<0.05)while there were no significant differences between groups(P>0.05). The rate of anterior chamber exudation was significantly lower in VRS+TA group than in VRS group(P<0.05)while there was no significant difference in the total incidence of complications between groups(P>0.05).

CONCLUSION: The application of intravitreal injection of TA in patients with PDR at 1wk before surgery can reduce the difficulty of surgery, shorten the surgical time and reduce complications, which is beneficial to the improvement of visual acuity after surgery.