Purpose: To compare the post cataract surgery anti-inflammatory effect of bromfenac monotherapy and of bromfenac and betamethasone combination therapy in diabetes mellitus patients.
Methods: A prospective study approved by the Institutional Review Board. Fifty-one eyes of 51 patients were randomly allocated to either bromfenac 0.1% monotherapy (n=23) or combined therapy with bromfenac 0.1% and betamethasone 0.1% (n=28). After surgery, monotherapy group was administered bromfenac alone for 8 weeks, while the combined therapy group was administered both bromfenac and betamethasone for 2 weeks, bromfenac alone for the next 6 weeks. The amount of change from preoperative values in anterior chamber flare and foveal thickness were compared between the 2 groups.
Results: There was no significant difference in change in anterior chamber flare between the 2 groups. The increase in foveal thickness 4 weeks postoperatively was significantly larger in the bromfenac group (p=0.0356). Four patients of the bromfenac group, all with a history of diabetic macular edema, developed macular edema after surgery.
Conclusion: Bromfenac and betamethasone combination exhibited a stronger anti-inflammatory effect after cataract surgery patients with diabetes mellitus. In particular, patients with a history of diabetic macular edema were susceptible to foveal thickening and macular edema, and a combined treatment is desirable.
Nippon Ganka Gakkai Zasshi (J Jpn Ophthalmol Soc) 118: 645-651, 2014.