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Updated: Apr 19, 2026
Use of Rabbit Eyes in Pharmacokinetic Studies of Intraocular Drugs
Published on: July 23, 2016
A randomized controlled trial comparing dexamethasone with loteprednol etabonate on postoperative photorefractive
Onsiri Thanathanee1, Phornrak Sriphon, Orapin Anutarapongpan
11 Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen University , Khon Kaen, Thailand .
Purpose:
To compare loteprednol etabonate 0.5%/tobramycin 0.3% (Zylet(®)) with dexamethasone 0.1%/tobramycin 0.3% (Tobradex(®)) in terms of the epithelial healing time, postoperative visual acuity, corneal haziness score, and intraocular pressure (IOP) in postoperative treatment after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK).
Methods:
This prospective, randomized, double-masked (participants and assessors blinded) controlled study included 32 patients who underwent PRK. The patients were allocated equally into 2 groups by block randomization to receive either loteprednol etabonate (Lot) or dexamethasone (Dex) for 1 month after the surgery. The epithelial healing time, uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), corneal haziness score, and IOP were evaluated at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months.
Results:
The corneal epithelium was healed within 3 days in both groups; however, the epithelium was closed on the second day in 3 cases in the Lot group compared with 1 case in the Dex group. No significant differences were found for UCVA at 1 and 3 months (Fisher exact test, P>0.01). Similarly, there was no statistically significant difference in corneal haziness scores between the 2 groups at 1 and 3 months (Mann-Whitney U test, P>0.05). The number of patients experiencing significantly increased IOP (≥5 mmHg) from baseline at any visit for the Lot group (1/16 patients) was fewer than for the Dex group (3/16 patients).
Conclusions:
Loteprednol etabonate was effective in postoperative PRK management and was significantly less likely to produce elevations in IOP than was dexamethasone.
