Efficacy and Safety of Nerve Growth Factor in Treating Neurotrophic Keratitis Patients: A Meta-Analysis

Aims/Background Nerve growth factor has been approved for treating neurotrophic keratitis in Europe and the United States. However, its clinical efficacy and safety profile in neurotrophic keratitis patients have not been systematically evaluated. Therefore, this study systematically assessed the efficacy and safety of nerve growth factor (NGF) in treating patients with neurotrophic keratitis. Methods Various databases, including Wanfang, China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI), Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science were systematically searched. This search included all articles published up to January 2024. Moreover, these articles were thoroughly reviewed and carefully screened following predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Furthermore, the quality of the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Manual 5.3 (The Cochrane Collaboration, London, UK). Stata26.0 (StataCorp LLC, College Station, TX, USA) was used for meta-analysis. The outcome indicators evaluated in this study included corneal healing efficiency, corneal complete healing rate, best vision correction rate, ailment progression, and the number of adverse events. Results A total of 4 articles were included in this study, including 293 sufferers. The findings from the meta-analysis revealed that the corneal healing efficiency (odds ratio (OR) = 1.72, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.20-2.45), the corneal complete healing rate (OR = 2.23, 95% CI: 1.41-3.54), and the best visual acuity correction rate (OR = 1.97, 95% CI: 1.11-3.47) were significantly higher in the experimental group compared to the control group. However, the incidence of ailment progression (OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.17-1.13) and adverse events (OR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.50-1.56) did not show significant differences between these two groups. Conclusion In summary, for patients with neuropathic keratitis, NGF treatment can promote corneal healing efficiency, effectively improve visual correction, and reduce disease progression and incidence of adverse events to a large extent. The clinical effect and safety are high, and it is worthy of clinical promotion and application.