Steroidal versus non-steroidal eye drops in prevention of cystoid macular edema after cataract extraction in diabetic patients

Abstract

Background: Cystoid macular edema (CME) is addressed as one of the most important complication responsible for suboptimal visual acuity outcome after cataract surgery. Objective: Comparison between topical steroids versus NSAIDs regarding ability to reduce CME after uneventful cataract surgery of foldable intraocular lens (IOL) implantation in diabetic patients. Patients and methods: In this study, 30 patients underwent phacoemulsification surgery with posterior chamber foldable intraocular lens implantation in Ophthalmology Department, Al-AzharUniversityHospital between December 2017 and November 2018. Patients were randomly categorized into 2 groups. Group 1: Nepafenac eye drops (0.1%) 3 times daily for one month, Group 2: Prednisolone eye drops (1%) 5 times daily for one month. Results: At the end of the follow up, foveal thickness changes in optical coherence tomography (OCT) were found to be slightly less in the no steroidal anti-inflammatory eye drops (NSAIDs) group than in the steroidal group with no significant change in the final visual outcome between the two groups. Conclusion: There was no significant statistical difference between NSAIDs drops and steroids drops in prevention of development of pseudophakic macular edema post cataract surgery.