Clinical evaluation of clobetasone butyrate: a comparative study of its effects in postoperative inflammation and on intraocular pressure.

Clobetasone butyrate, a new corticosteroid with a high topical activity, has been compared with prednisolone phosphate and a placebo in the treatment of inflammation following cataract extraction. These 2 steroids were more effective in relieving postoperative inflammation than placebo (P less than 0.05), though no obvious clinical differences between the 2 compounds emerged from this investigation. However, a single-blind comparative study against betamethasone phosphate in patients suspected of having steroid-induced glaucoma showed that, while betamethasone phosphate significantly raised intraocular pressure, clobetasone butyrate had only a minimal effect, and this difference was statistically significant (P less than 0.02).