Comparison of antibiotic therapy in presumptive bacterial conjunctivitis.

One hundred twenty patients who met criteria for presumptive bacterial infections of the conjunctiva were closely recorded for two weeks in a double-blind study that compared the effectiveness of gentamicin with a combination of neomycin and polymyxin B sulfates. The neomycin and polymyxin B combination demonstrated statistical superiority as measured by patient improvement and failure to respond to therapy. However, difficulties including chance distribution of bacteria and variability of organism resistance may have detracted from statistical results.