How does nepafenac affect the choroidal thickness after uneventful cataract surgery?

To investigate the effects of topical nepafenac on choroidal thickness (CT) following uneventful phacoemulsification surgery (UPS) using enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT).

This prospective study included 45 randomly selected eyes (23 eyes of 23 patients used nepafenac (nepafenac group) and 22 eyes of 22 control patients did not use nepafenac (nepafenac-free group)) undergoing small-incision UPS. All participants underwent full ophthalmologic examination. CT measurements were performed at subfoveal, 1.0 mm temporal, and 1.0 mm nasal using the EDI-OCT preoperatively, 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month postoperatively.

The mean subfoveal, nasal, and temporal CT in the nepafenac-free group had changed from 268.95 ± 63.59 μm to 283.36 ± 65.63 μm, 237.22 ± 64.09 μm to 253.09 ± 67.27 μm, and 235.95 ± 75.22 μm to 259.09 ± 63.66 μm preoperatively to 1 month postoperatively, respectively (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, respectively). The mean subfoveal, nasal, and temporal CT in the nepafenac group had changed from 259.65 ± 55.99 μm to 276.65 ± 59.21 μm, 236.34 ± 55.40 μm to 251.00 ± 62.39 μm, and 247.56 ± 50.88 μm to 261.13 ± 53.73 μm preoperatively to 1 month postoperatively, respectively (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, respectively). The postoperative CT continued to increase significantly during the follow-up period in two groups. However, compared to the change from baseline to month 1, there was not a statistically significant difference between the groups at subfoveal, nasal, and temporal CT (p: 0.633, p: 0.865, and p: 0.328, respectively).

UPS may cause a significant increase in CT. Although increasing in the CT was lower in the nepafenac group than the nepafenac-free group, there was not a statistically significant difference between the groups.