Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To evaluate the benefit of deep intramuscular methylprednisolone (IMMP) in the treatment of recurrent scleritis. Methods: A total of 12 patients with scleritis (10 anterior, 2 pan; 9 females, 3 males; aged 40-70 yrs mean age 56 yrs) underwent deep IMMP 120 or 160 mg into the thigh. All patients except one were already on systemic immunosuppression or oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory when they suffered an acute flare-up of scleritis requiring IMMP. A number of patients had more than one injection, making a total of 20 IMMP injections. Results: An improvement in the scleritis, including clinical appearance, B-scan ultrasound, and symptomatic relief of pain was seen after 16/20 injections (80%). The mean duration of improvement was 5.8 months (range 1.5-18 months). Improvement lasted for more than 3 months in 10 injections. No ocular or systemic side effects of IMMP were reported. Conclusions: Our results show IMMP to be a safe and effective therapeutic adjunct in the management of scleritis. Use of this modality prevented the need for increasing systemic immunosuppression or introducing oral corticosteroids. Other benefits are that it is repeatable, can be given by nursing staff, and it ensures compliance.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: tre • corticosteroids • autoimmune disease