Topical ciprofloxacin for bacterial corneal ulcer.
OBJECTIVE
To assess topical ciprofloxacin in patients with moderate severity of suspected bacterial corneal ulcers.


METHODS
Randomized, controlled clinical trial.


METHODS
Inpatient at Siriraj Hospital.


METHODS
All patients with suspected corneal ulcers. Patients with fungal cause known before admission and an allergy to any medication, were excluded.


METHODS
Topical ciprofloxacin 0.3 per cent or cefazolin (50 mg/ml) and fortified gentamicin (14 mg/ml) were given every 15 minutes for the first 6 hours, then every half hour on the first day, and every hour while awake till midnight until complete recovery without staining of fluorescein and no culture growth.


METHODS
The primary outcomes were the success rate and duration of the healing of the ulcer after treatment in each group.


RESULTS
Forty-one patients were enrolled. Twelve (70.6%) of 17 patients in the ciprofloxacin group were therapeutically successful while 15 (62.5%) of 24 patients in the control group showed similar outcome without a statistically significant difference. However, the mean duration for healing after treatment was not significantly different being 14.6 days in the control group and 15.6 days in the ciprofloxacin group. Visual improvement in the success cases of the control and ciprofloxacin groups was 46.7 per cent, and 66.7 per cent, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Treatment with topical ciprofloxacin in suspected bacterial corneal ulcer should be considered as an alternative to standard therapy.
Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
P
P
Kosrirukvongs
W
W
Buranapongs
D000287:Administration, Topical; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002939:Ciprofloxacin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003320:Corneal Ulcer / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D012016:Reference Values
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D002939:Ciprofloxacin