Purpose To ascertain the therapeutic effect of periocular corticosteroids in diabetic papillopathy. Methods Prospectively, five consecutive adult-onset diabetic patients with symptomatic diabetic papillopathy underwent visual fields and fluorescein angiography before and after superonasal subtenon injection of corticosteroids. Results The median duration of papillopathy was 2.5 weeks by ophthalmoscopy and 3 weeks by fluorescein angiography. The median recovery time of best-spectaclecorrected visual acuity was 2 weeks. Two patients developed sequential diabetic papillopathy, and both reported faster visual recovery and better subjective vision in treated eyes. In these two patients, the final bestspectacle-corrected visual acuity and visual evoked responses were comparable between the two eyes, while automated visual fields were less constricted in treated eyes. Complications included ocular hypertension, mild progression of cataract, and mild ptosis in one patient each. Conclusions Periocular corticosteroids shortened the duration of diabetic papillopathy from a reported median of 5 months to 3 weeks in the present uncontrolled observational study, partly by their angiostatic and antioedema effects at the level of the anterior optic nerve. Intraocular pressure needs to be monitored in eyes receiving periocular corticosteroids.