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Retina & Diabetic Eye Care

Intravitreal Eye Injections (Anti-VEGF)

An intravitreal injection delivers medication directly into the eye’s vitreous cavity to reduce macular swelling and shut down abnormal new blood vessels in the retina.

Speak to a specialist about Intravitreal Eye Injections (Anti-VEGF) in Agartala.

Call 8583948238

What is Intravitreal Eye Injections (Anti-VEGF)?

An intravitreal injection delivers medication directly into the eye’s vitreous cavity to reduce macular swelling and shut down abnormal new blood vessels in the retina.

Also known as: Anti-VEGF injection · Intravitreal injection · Macular injection

Injecting medicine into the eye sounds alarming and is in practice one of the quicker, better-tolerated procedures we perform. It has also transformed the outlook for wet macular degeneration and diabetic macular oedema — conditions that once had no effective treatment at all.

Book a consultation

Talk to our specialist about Intravitreal Eye Injections (Anti-VEGF).

Call 8583948238 or message on WhatsApp
Location
Colonel Chowmuhani, Agartala
Serving
All 8 districts of Tripura

Conditions treated with injections

  • Wet age-related macular degeneration
  • Diabetic macular oedema — swelling at the centre of the retina
  • Macular oedema following a retinal vein occlusion
  • Proliferative diabetic retinopathy, often before laser or surgery
  • Myopic choroidal neovascularisation in highly short-sighted eyes
  • Selected inflammatory conditions, where a steroid implant may be used instead

How the medication works

  • VEGF is a signalling protein the retina releases when it is short of oxygen
  • It makes vessels leak and drives the growth of fragile new vessels that bleed
  • Anti-VEGF drugs block that signal, so leakage settles and new vessels regress
  • Steroid implants work differently, reducing inflammation-driven swelling over months

Treatment options at Wills Eye

Anti-VEGF agents

Given in a planned loading series followed by a treat-and-extend or as-needed schedule guided by OCT.

Intravitreal steroids

Used where anti-VEGF response is incomplete or inflammation is the main driver. Eye pressure and cataract are monitored during their use.

OCT-guided review

Every decision to re-treat is based on a current scan showing whether fluid has returned, not on a fixed calendar.

What to expect — step by step

  1. 1

    OCT scan

    Performed before the injection to document the fluid and to compare against the previous visit.

  2. 2

    Sterile preparation

    Done in the operating theatre: anaesthetic drops, povidone-iodine antisepsis and a sterile drape and lid speculum. This preparation is what prevents infection.

  3. 3

    The injection

    A very fine needle enters through the sclera about 4 mm from the cornea. It takes a few seconds and most patients feel only pressure.

  4. 4

    After the injection

    You may see a small dark shadow or bubbles for a day. A red patch on the white of the eye is common, harmless and fades in a week.

Recovery & aftercare

You can go home immediately and resume normal activity the next day. Mild grittiness for a day or two is expected. What is not expected — and must be reported at once — is increasing pain, worsening vision or intense redness after 24 hours, as these can indicate infection inside the eye, which is rare but serious and treatable if caught early.

Why timing matters

These treatments preserve vision far better than they restore it. In wet AMD in particular, the difference between starting injections within weeks of the first distortion of straight lines and starting months later is often the difference between usable reading vision and a permanent central scar. If straight lines look bent, that is a same-week appointment.

Intravitreal Eye Injections (Anti-VEGF) — frequently asked questions

Does the injection hurt? +

The eye is numbed first, so most people feel pressure rather than pain. The iodine antiseptic often stings more than the needle does.

How many injections will I need? +

Usually a loading course of three monthly injections, then further doses guided by scans. Some patients need few, others need ongoing treatment — it depends on the disease.

Can I stop once my vision improves? +

Only on advice and after a scan. Stopping while fluid is still present commonly leads to a relapse that is harder to treat than the original episode.

Is there any risk of infection? +

The risk is very low with proper sterile technique, but not zero. That is exactly why we do injections in theatre and ask you to report pain or dropping vision immediately.

This page is written for general information about intravitreal eye injections (anti-vegf) and is not a substitute for examination and advice from a qualified eye doctor. Treatment recommendations depend on your individual findings.