Wet md

[dreene]

Hello all,

Prior to anti veg injection for WMD....why do they ask do you have any open wounds or infections.

Appreciate any info

[tallyho]

Hi there I am not sure on this BUT I meet with ophthalmologists on most Mondays so will ask. I think I know why but would rather check first

[Ayayay80]

Hello dreene

The first thing that springs to my mind is that an eye infection after after an A-VGF injection is one of the serious side effects that may occur. So if you have an open wound (open to infection) or an infection of any kind elsewhere in your body, your risk of developing an eye infection would be increased.

All the best.

[tallyho]

Hi there I asked the ophthalmologists. There can be 2 reasons

1) because if you already have an infection such as blepharitis ( eye infection) this needs to be treated before an injection is given

2) anti veg f can be systematic ( can travel around the body) so it may interfere with any healing process that is happening else where

So hope that helps

[dreene in reply to tallyho]

Many thanks

[dreene in reply to tallyho]

Much appreciated thanks for info x

[JJnan in reply to tallyho]

what is anti veg inj ???

[tallyho in reply to JJnan]

Hi there thanks for the question in simple terms anti veg f stops your body making new blood vessels in the retina which are weaker and more prone to bleeding and can cause sight loss. Our bodies naturally produce VEG-F A when there are problems in the retina. Unfortunately the eye producing this protein ( and trying to heal itself) is not actually a good thing so the anti - VEG- F stops it doing this .

[JJnan in reply to tallyho]

Thanks for reply . i only asked as since having first eylia inj in right eye in Oct, when they "dotted"the eye jumped in pain, they added more anaesthetic and carried on with inj .....but when the blue cover (they stick on eyelid) was removed it was excruciatingly painful......i had an extremely bad eye for 4-5 days...... on 2nd inj in same eye they asked have i got Bletharitis ....i said i dont know and told them what happened .....i asked them NOT to use blue cover which they agreed

again the dotting hurt .....my eye got worse so went to GP who gave me antibiotic drops .....on 3rd inj my eye was still not right . they asked "whats wrong with your eye" i asked them can they tell me ??? no ..go to GP.....i am also concerned that they started with eylia not lucentis ....i asked this and was told "eylia 1inj eylia 2inj eylia 3 inj" doc just ignored my question ......i have got an app with one of the consultants on Dec 8th .....my eye is still very swollen. i feel very let down not given any info , and felt surely they should have been able to tell if it was an infection or something!!!! and i shouldnt have had these3 inj.

[tallyho in reply to JJnan]

Hi there so sorry to hear of your issues with the Eylea ( that is how it is spelt) injections. I do not have AMD I have DMO and it is treated the same way. I have had 50 + injections starting with avastin then lucentis and now Eylea. Are you questioning why you did not start on Lucentis first before Eylea? Things are moving quite quickly in the drugs world for macular conditions when I started my injections I could only have avastin ( due to NICE guidance) now I could have all 3 drugs. Eylea is the newest so some are not bothering with lucentis and starting straight with Eylea I myself having tried all three and have found Eylea the best as the molecules are slightly different and last longer. I think myself it has promising results so far. The reason why he said 3 Eylea is because you will have 3 loading injections first then a review so on the 8 th December they may have an idea about how you are responding. The infection question is an important one I am not sure why they could not answer this and sent you to your GP I would bring this up if you can next time. Do you have an ECLO ( Eye Clinic Liason Officer) linked to the hospital they can be very helpful/knowledgeable

Take care sorry for the long reply

[marianS]

Dear Dreene,

In response to your question about why the eye clinic ask whether you have any open wounds or infections before having eye injections, I can offer some suggestions. The Macular Society are not able to give specific medical advice but I would guess this is likely to be about preventing cross-contamination or infection during the procedure.This could be self-contamination or from one person to another, depending on the method of spread (via the air or direct contact). Or it may limit your body’s ability to respond to the treatment eg if trying to fight another infection.

Some hospital consultants will not perform operations on a person who has another wound, for fear of spreading “bugs” that are normal in one area of the body to another area where they are harmful. An example of this is staphylococcus aureus which is normally harmless when found on unbroken skin, but if it gets into tissues eg in leg wounds or ulcers or operation sites, it can be painful and damaging. Of course MRSA, a form of staph aureus that is resistant to methicillin, is a notorious example and can be life-threatening. People are checked with swabs before operation so that they can be treated if present, to eliminate it before their operation.

If you have any local or eye infection yourself you risk spreading it, or complicating the recovery process and reducing the effect of treatment.

I recommend that you check with your specialist what the exact reason is, as I do not wish you to be alarmed, but understand there will be a sensible and pragmatic explanation to minimise complications and optimise benefits of your treatment.

If we can be of further help around treatments available and living with a macular condition, do not hesitate to contact us.

The Macular Society Helpline

0300 3030 111 - 09.00-17.00 Mon- Friday

[e-mail]

[alison-g]

Common wound-healing complications observed with the administration of anti-VEGF drugs is the occurrence of wound dehiscence, ecchmosis, surgical bleeding, and wound infection. These complications are attributed to the inhibition of endothelial cells' response to injury.

Anti-Angiogenic Drugs: Involvement in Cutaneous Side Effects and ...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...