Nurses trained to deliver eye injections for patients with the wet form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) administered the treatments as safely and effectively as doctors, according to a new study. The research is being presented at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) this week in Denver, Colo.
Researchers from the United Kingdom found that patients had the same rates of eye infection, a rare complication of the treatment, regardless of whether the treatment was delivered by a doctor or nurse.
Eye injections of medication have revolutionized the treatment of blinding eye diseases, including wet AMD and diabetic macular edema. Training nurses to supplement the treatments delivered by physicians allows more patients to safely receive these effective therapies.
Abstract Title: Postoperative endophthalmitis after intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) injections: incidence and associated factors, including nurse injectors in a series of 31,561 cases
Presentation Start/End Time: Wednesday, May 6, 8:30 - 10:15am
Location: Exhibit Hall
Abstract Number: 4168 - C0051
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