Abstract
Purpose: :
To determine if topical dexamethasone 0.1%/povidone-iodine 0.4% relieves the symptoms and signs of viral conjunctivitis better than artificial tears.
Methods: :
Eighty-two patients with a clinical diagnosis of viral conjunctivitis were randomized to treatment group or control group. Physicians and patients were masked to treatment. Patients in the treatment group received topical dexamethasone 0.1%/povidone-iodine 0.4% four times daily, and patients in the control group received artificial tears four times daily, both during seven days. Symptom and sign scores were recorded on the day of recruitment and at the time of a follow-up examination 5, 10 and 30 days later. TheOutcome Measures werechange in six symptoms of conjunctivitis (overall discomfort, itching, foreign body sensation, tearing, redness, and lid swelling) and four signs of conjunctivitis (conjunctival injection, conjunctival chemosis, conjunctival mucus, and lid edema). Adverse effects, intra ocular pressure and subephitelial corneal infiltrates incidence were also studied.
Results: :
There was no statistically significant difference between the change in symptom and signs scores between the treatment group and control group in any follow-up days, except itching and conjunctival mucus in day 10. Patients in the control group, in assessing the tenth day, were more likely to report improvement in itching than those in the treatment group, P = 0.037, and presented better evolution in conjuctival mucus, P = 0.006. There is no statistically significant difference in adverse effects, intra ocular pressure and subephitelial corneal infiltrates incidence between two groups.
Conclusions: :
Topical dexamethasone 0.1%/povidone-iodine 0.4% used four times daily is no better than artificial tears at relieving the symptoms or signs of viral conjunctivitis.
Clinical Trial: :
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT01481519
Keywords: conjunctivitis • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: treatment/prevention assessment/controlled clinical trials • antiviral drugs