radial optic neurotomy with and without intravitreal triamcinolone injection in central retinal vein occlusion

purpose: to evaluate the efficacy of radial optic neurotomy (ron) combined with or without intravitreal triamcinolone acetonid (ivta) injection in the management of central retinal vein occlusion (crvo). methods: this non-randomized clinical trial was conducted on 23 patients with crvo, who underwent ron with or without ivta injection. preoperative and postoperative best corrected visual acuity were converted to logmar and time to plateau of best corrected visual acuity were evaluated over a 12 months period.   results: the patients included 16 male and 7 female subjects with mean age of 56±16.8 year (25-72 years). mean visual acuity was 1.42±0.43 logmar (20/600) preoperatively, which improved to 1.1±0.14 logmar (20/250) postoperatively. (p< 0.05) at one year, mean visual acuity was 1.56±0.63 logmar in the non-ivta group and 1.09±0.37 logmar in the ivta group (p= 0.04). vision improved by 3 or more lines in 14 eyes (60.9%). overall eyes with combined ron and ivta injection had better postoperative visual acuity, although it was not statistically significant. time to plateau of best-corrected visual acuity in eyes that underwent ron combined with ivta injection was significantly shorter. conclusion: the combination of ron and ivta injection may enhance therapeutic success and cause faster visual rehabilitation than ron alone.