To compare central macular thickness (CMT) and visual acuity outcomes after intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide or bevacizumab for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME).

Fifty-one patients were randomly choosen to receive an intravitreal injection of either triamcinolone acetonide or bevacizumab. Patients were retrospectively reviewed, and 28 of 51 received an intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide while the remaining 23 received bevacizumab injection. All patients underwent Snellen visual acuity testing, optical coherence tomography imaging and ophthalmoscopic examination at baseline and at four weeks following the injection.

In the triamcinolone group, CMT decreased from 656.71±194.37 µm at baseline to 312.46±102.14 µm at the four-week follow-up visit, while in the bevacizumab group, CMT decreased from 582.17±151.02 µm at baseline to 453.09±172.39 µm at the follow-up ( p <0.05). The LogMAR best-corrected visual acuity converted from the Snellen visual acuity significantly improved in the triamcinolone group (from 0.89±0.38 to 0.67±0.33) compared to the bevacizumab group (from 0.79±0.31 to 0.70±0.34) [ p <0.05].

Intravitreal injection of triamcinolone may offer advantages over bevacizumab in the short-term management of DME, specifically with respect to improvement in CMT and visual acuity.