Use of steroid/antibiotic prophylaxis in intraocular lens implantation: a double-masked study v placebo.

A prospective, randomized, double-masked study was conducted to compare the efficacy of steroid/antibiotic treatment to placebo in reducing postoperative ocular inflammation. Patients undergoing planned extracapsular cataract extraction with intraocular lens implantation were treated with either placebo or a combination product containing dexamethasone, neomycin, and polymyxin B for three days prior to surgery and three weeks following surgery. Five of thirteen (38%) patients treated with placebo developed significant iritis postoperatively, while none of ten (0%) patients treated with the combination product developed excessive inflammation (P = 0.027). Two patients treated with the steroid/antibiotic combination product experienced a broken suture postoperatively followed by iris prolapse, as compared to none in the placebo group (P greater than 0.10). More types and significant numbers of bacteria were isolated from the eyes of the placebo-treatment group after therapy than were found in the steroid/antibiotic-treatment group.