Purpose To investigate the intraocular pressure (IOP) variations occurring aft er indirect diode laser photocoagulation for threshold retinopathy of prematurit y. Design Prospective, nonrandomized, comparative study. Participants A study gr oup 21 consecutive premature babies (42 eyes) undergoing diode laser photocoagul ation for retinopathy of prematurity and control groups 32 premature babies (64 eyes) undergoing retinal examination with or without scleral indentation. Interv ention Intraocular pressure was measured with a portable electronic tonometer be fore, immediately after, and 1, 2, and 3 days after diode laser photocoagulation in the study group; before retinal examination in control group 1; and before a nd after retinal examination with scleral indentation in control group 2. Main o utcome measure Intraocular pressure after diode laser photocoagulation for thres hold retinopathy of prematurity. Results Mean IOP in the study group rose from 1 5 mmHg (standard deviation SD=4.1) before coagulation to 33.2 mmHg (SD = 7.8; range, 20-50) immediately after, and then dropped to 22.2 (SD=5.2), 16.5 (SD=3) , and 14.5 mmHg (SD=2.1) 1, 2, and 3 days later, respectively. All the changes w ere statistically significant at P < 0.0001, except for the difference between d ays 2 and 3(P=0.096). Mean baseline IOPs were 16.3 mmHg (SD=3.7) in control grou p 1 and 15.7 mmHg (SD=2.3) in control group 2 (P=0.84 between control group 1 an d study group, and P=0.32 between control group 2 and the study group). At termi nation of the retinal examination with scleral indentation (control group 2), IO P measured 15.1 mmHg (SD=2.2) (P=0.49 compared with baseline). Conclusions Intra ocular pressure may be significantly elevated after diode laser photocoagulation for retinopathy of prematurity. The mechanism and long-term clinical implicati ons of this observation should be investigated.
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