Patients undergoing intravitreal injections to treat age-related macular degeneration who were given an investigational antiseptic experienced less pain and had fewer adverse events than patients given povidone-iodine, according to data presented at the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS) annual meeting being held in Long Beach, California.

Povidone-iodine is an antiseptic used during ophthalmic procedures, including intravitreal injections of medications used to treat age-related macular degeneration, to prevent infections. It is nontoxic but can result in pain and adverse corneal events.

“As any retina specialist in this room knows, 5% povidone-iodine causes at least a mild level of ocular pain and toxicity for most patients, but a subset of patients actually have severe and

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