Abstract
Purpose
This study compared pain and anxiety levels in individuals receiving intravitreal injections (IVIs) using a speculum-free injection technique, the lid splinting eyelid retraction technique, or using a speculum.
Methods
This was a prospective study of individuals receiving IVI at a single tertiary care medical center who responded to a questionnaire and visual analog scale (VAS) between December 2019 and January 2020. In one group, a speculum was used prior to injection, whereas in the other group, a speculum-free injection technique was used.
Results
A total of 108 individuals were included in this study: 54 received IVI with the speculum-free lid splinting eyelid retraction technique and 54 received IVI with a speculum. A correlation between pain and anxiety was demonstrated in the control group (p-value < 0.01); however, in the speculum-free group, this correlation was lower and not significant. When comparing pain and anxiety between the study groups, lower median pain (Mood’s: Z = 5.378, p-value < 0.001) and lower anxiety (Mood’s: Z = 2.108, p-value = 0.035) scores were demonstrated in the speculum-free group than in the control group. The distribution of pain scores was significantly different between the study groups (Kolmogorov–Smirnov: D = 0.518, p-value < 0.001), and trending differences in anxiety between the groups were observed (Kolmogorov–Smirnov: D = 0.259, p-value = 0.053).
Conclusion
The lid splinting eyelid retraction technique, a speculum-free technique, was associated with less anxiety and pain in patients than the use of a speculum. As IVI often involves repeated treatment, identifying modifiable factors that may relieve anxiety and pain is of utmost importance.
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Data availability
Data are available from the corresponding author upon request.
Code availability
Not relevant.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the work of Sondra Turjeman, PhD, for her expert statistical analysis.
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Wasser, L.M., Roditi, E., Weiss, A.R. et al. Anxiety and pain perception using a speculum-free eyelid retraction technique for intravitreal injection. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 260, 2023–2028 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-021-05422-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-021-05422-7