Systemic impact on preterm infants during treatment for retinopathy of prematurity: A comparison of retinal photocoagulation and intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor drugs

Objectives: To compare the systemic impact of retinal photocoagulation with intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) monoclonal antibodies on preterm infants with retinopathy of prematurity. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on infants with retinopathy of prematurity requiring treatment. A total of 20 infants received laser treatment (laser group) and 30 received anti-VEGF treatment (anti-VEGF group). Results: The laser treatment lasted longer than the anti-VEGF treatment (58.1 versus 2.2 min). In the laser group, 93% of infants required assisted ventilation during treatment, who did not require ventilation before treatment, while 9.1% of the anti-VEGF group required assisted ventilation. The C-reactive protein levels were significantly altered in the laser group (827.7%) than in the anti-VEGF group (126.9%), before and after treatment. Conclusions: In the anti-VEGF group, treatment duration was shorter, fewer cases required assisted ventilation, and C-reactive protein levels changed significantly less, suggesting that anti-VEGF treatment is less invasive than laser treatment.