Effect of Intracameral Use of Dexamethasone on Corneal Endothelial Cells

Objective: To evaluate the effect of intracameral dexamethasone on corneal endothelium. Study Design: Quasi experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Layton Rehmatulla Benevolent Trust Eye Hospital, Lahore, from May 2011 to January 2012. Methodology: Study subjects were adults of either gender with senile cataract who underwent phacoemulsification. They were divided in two groups, each had 110 patients. Group-A received subconjunctival injection of dexamethasone (2 mg/0.5 ml) at the end of surgery while group-B received intracameral injection of dexamethasone (0.4 mg/0.1 ml) at the end of surgery. Endothelial cell count was performed by specular microscopy pre-operatively and postoperatively at first week, first month and three months. Outcome measures included changes in endothelial cell count. Results were compared using t-test for means. Results: There were 55 (50%) males and 55 (50%) females in group-A and 44 (40%) males and 66 (60%) females in group-B. In group-A, there were 66 (60%) right and 44 (40%) left eyes while group-B had 62 (56.36%) right and 48 (43.63%) left eyes. Mean age in group-A was 55.17 A +- 5.93 years and 54.87 A +- 5.55 years in group-B. Mean phacoemulsification time in group-A was 1.92 A +- 0.63 minutes and 1.82 A +- 0.54 minutes in group-B. After 3 months, in group-A, there was 7.55 A +- 1.19% endothelial cell loss while in group-B, there was 7.63 A +- 1.10% endothelial cell loss. The difference between the two groups was not statistically significant (p=0.614). Conclusion: Use of intracameral dexamethasone at the end of cataract surgery is safe for corneal endothelium. (author)