Pain management during intravitreal injection: integrative review

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Intravitreal injection is a very common surgical procedure in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema, and retinal vein occlusion. Because it's a treatment that causes pain and discomfort for the patient, therapies that reduce procedural pain are necessary. The aim of the study was to conduct an integrative review on pain management during administration of intravitreal injection. CONTENTS:The study was carried out in January 2021 in three databases (Pubmed, Bireme and Scielo) using the descriptors "intravitreal injections", "pain management" and "analgesia". After reading and analysis, 15 articles were selected. The results show several factors associated with pain management during intravitreal injection, such as the use of different anesthetics, needle gauge, injected medication, different surgical instruments and use of music. CONCLUSION: Studies have shown that proparacaine, especially when associated with subconjunctival lidocaine, ranibizumab and alternative techniques for intravitreal injection are preferable approaches to pain management during the procedure.