Intravitreal Administration

Intravitreal administration is a route of drug administration in which a substance is delivered into the vitreous humor of the eye, typically by injection with a fine needle, used to treat eye diseases such as age related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and infections inside the eye such as endophthalmitis. Compared with topical administration, it delivers medication more directly to the targeted site, since the needle passes through the eye's anatomical and dynamic barriers, and it can reduce the medication's effects on other body tissues compared with intravenous injection, though it carries risks of infection or other complications. Intravitreal injections were first introduced in 1911, when air was injected into the vitreous humor to repair a detached retina, and by the mid 1940s the technique had become a standard way to treat endophthalmitis and cytomegalovirus retinitis.