Incidence of cystoid macular edema following routine cataract surgery using NSAIDs alone or with corticosteroids.

To evaluate the rate of cystoid macular edema development among cataract surgery patients on four different therapeutic regimens. The present study is a retrospective analysis of 5,380 eyes following uncomplicated phacoemulsification at Wake Forest University. The study period went from July 2007 to December 2012. Patients received one of four regimens, as follows: postoperative generic ketorolac 0.4% and prednisolone 1%, postoperative name-brand ketorolac 0.45% and prednisolone 1%, postoperative bromfenac 0.09% and prednisolone 1%, preoperative and postoperative bromfenac 0.09% alone. A statistical analysis was performed to assess the differences in rate of cystoid macular edema development among the four different therapeutic regimens. The diagnosis of cystoid macular edema required worsening of vision and evidence of increased macular thickness on optical coherence tomography. The overall rate of cystoid macular edema was 0.82%. Treatment by postoperative generic ketorolac 0.45% and prednisolone 1% demonstrated the highest rate of cystoid macular edema development (2.20% of the cases). Postoperative name-brand ketorolac 0.45% and prednisolone 1% exhibited intermediate rates of cystoid macular edema development (0.90% of the cases). Postoperative administration of bromfenac 0.09% and prednisolone 1% exhibited intermediate rates of cystoid macular edema development (0.44% of the cases). Preoperative and postoperative bromfenac 0.09% alone resulted in the lowest rate of cystoid macular edema development (0.09% of the cases). The rate of cystoid macular edema was significantly lower when bromfenac was used alone vs. either regimen where ketorolac and prednisolone were used (OR 0.043, 95% CI 0.002 to 0.312; p<0.001). Post-cataract surgery cystoid macular edema developed less frequently following topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs regimen compared to the other therapies evaluated. Bromfenac, without corticosteroids, achieved lower rates of cystoid macular edema vs. various combinations of non-ste-roidal anti-inflammatory drugs with corticosteroids.