COMBINED NONSTEROIDAL THERAPY IN EXPERIMENTAL CORNEAL INJURY

Purpose: The effects of anti-inflammatory non-steroidal therapy combin ed with free-radical scavengers were studied and compared to corticost eroid use in the treatment of experimental corneal injury. Method: Eig hty New Zealand albino rabbits were used in this study. A corneal alka li burn was induced by applying 1-N NaOH filter paper on the central a xis of the right cornea for 30 s. Animals were distributed into five t reatment groups: group 1 (control group) was only given gentamicin; gr oup 2 was treated with 0.5% dimethylthiourea (DMU); group 3 received 1 % dexamethasone; group 4 was given combined 0.5% DMU and 1% indomethac in; group 5 was treated with 0.5% DMU and 0.1% diclofenac sodium. One 50-mu l drop of gentamicin was instilled every 12 h, whereas the other drugs were instilled every 6 h (50 mu l). All groups received the sam e antibiotic treatment as the control group. The animals were killed o n the 5th day. Inflammatory index, area and perimeter of the wounded c orneal zone, and corneal transparency were evaluated. Results: No sign ificant differences in the inflammatory index were found between the t reatment groups and the control group after 72 h. Significant differen ces (p < 0.001) were observed at 24 h in groups 3-5 when compared with the control group. Planimetry showed significant differences in group 4 when compared with the other groups (p < 0.05). Corneal transparenc y study showed statistically significantly better values in groups 4 a nd 5, when compared with the other groups, including group 3 (p < 0.05 ). Conclusions: The use of 0.5% DMU combined with 1% indomethacin can be considered an alternative to corticosteroid treatment in our experi mental chemical corneal injury.