Anti-VEGF monotherapy versus anti-VEGF therapy combined with laser or intravitreal glucocorticoid therapy for diabetic macular edema: A Bayesian network meta-analysis

AimsTo conduct a network meta-analysis (NMA) comparing the efficacy of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) monotherapy versus anti-VEGF therapy combined with laser or intravitreal glucocorticoid therapy for diabetic macular edema (DME).Materials and MethodsPubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched for randomized controlled trials comparing anti-VEGF monotherapy with anti-VEGF therapy combined with laser or intravitreal glucocorticoid therapy for DME. The primary outcomes included the mean best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central macular thickness (CMT) changes from the baseline. A NMA for continuous outcomes was conducted using a fixed-effects model, with mean difference (MD) and corresponding 95% credible interval (CI) reported.ResultsThe NMA included 21 randomized controlled trials involving 1798 eyes. Anti-VEGF monotherapy and anti-VEGF combined with laser or intravitreal glucocorticoid therapy did not significantly change the mean CMT and BCVA at 6 and 12 months from the baseline. Simulation-based ranking results for mean BCVA changes suggested that anti-VEGF therapy combined with laser therapy was likely the most effective at 6 (70.7515%) and 12 (70.9315%) months. Similar results were observed in the simulation-based ranking of mean CMT changes, suggesting that anti-VEGF therapy combined with laser therapy was likely the most effective at 6 (83.6350%) and 12 (74.7730%) months.ConclusionsAnti-VEGF monotherapy and anti-VEGF therapy combined with laser or intravitreal glucocorticoid therapy exerted comparable effects. However, the ranking chart recommends anti-VEGF therapy combined with laser therapy. Meanwhile, anti-VEGF therapy combined with intravitreal glucocorticoid therapy did not demonstrate significant benefits.