Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To investigate short-term effects of topical dexamethasone and ciprofloxacin, alone and in combination, on the colony counts of the conjunctival bacterial flora of the healthy subjects. Methods: One hundred healthy subjects were randomly divided into 4 groups, consisting of 25 subjects each. Group 1 was treated with dexamethasone phosphate 0.1% (Maxidex). Group 2 was treated with ciprofloxacin 0.3% (Ciloxan) and Group 3 with a combination of these drugs. Group 4 received artificial tear solution (Tears Naturale) and served as control. One drop medication was instilled every 1 minute for 3 minutes. A pretreatment culture and recultures at 30, 90, 180 minutes after application of final drops were performed to all subjects. The bacterial growth was evaluated in a quantitative manner. All cultures were performed in a double-masked fashion. ANOVA test was used for statistical analyses. Results: While there was no significant difference among mean number of pretreatment colonies between the groups (p=0.85); the differences at 30, 90 and 180 minutes were statistically significant (p<0.001). During the study there was no statistically significant change in colony counts in Group 1 and Group 4 (p=0.66 and p=0 55 respectively). The colony count numbers decreased significantly at 30 and 90 minutes in Group 2 (p<0.001 and p= 0.004) and at 30 minutes in Group 3 (p=0.002). Conclusion: Topically applied dexamethasone did not cause a significant change in colony counts of the healthy conjunctiva. Both ciprofloxacin and combination of ciprofloxacin and dexamethasone were effective in the reduction of bacterial ocular flora.
Keywords: microbial pathogenesis: clinical studies • antibiotics/antifungals/antiparasitics • conjunctiva