Assessment of patient pain experience during intravitreal ranibizumab and aflibercept injection

Abstract

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare the pain scores of the patients during intravitreal injection of ranibizumab and aflibercept based on patient feedback. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-two eyes of 72 patients, who had not previously undergone any intravitreal injection procedures, were included in this study. Thirty-eight patients received ranibizumab, and 34 patients received aflibercept injections. The pain was measured by visual analog scale (VAS). Patients were asked to rate their pain experienced during the injection between 0 (no pain) and 10 (worst pain ever felt) on VAS just after the injection. RESULTS: VAS pain scores in ranibizumab and aflibercept groups were 3.28 ± 2.45 and 4.20 ± 2.30, respectively. There was a significant difference in average VAS pain scores between groups (P = 0.04). CONCLUSION: VAS pain scores in aflibercept group were found to be significantly higher than the scores in the ranibizumab group. © 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.