Evaluation on Efficacy of Topical Nepafenac as Supplement Therapy in the Treatment of Diabetic Macular Edema

Diabetes mellitus with its systemic complications has been an enormous health treat to the world population today. In the US, the ophthalmic related complications has been estimated to cause up to 4.2 million (28.5%) people in 2005 till 2008 to suffer from blindness. One of the most common causes of visual acuity loss in patients with diabetes mellitus is diabetic macular edema (DME).

The gold standard of treatment for clinically significant macular edema (CSME), a form of DME, is through focal and grid laser as shown by the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study. The development of newer drugs such as anti vascular endothelial growth factors anti (VEGFs), an alternative to laser treatment, has become a topic of interest in the recent years. Other alternative to treatment of DME is steroid such as triamcinolone injection and dexamethasone injections. However, both anti VEGFs and steroids are expensive and not readily available in all centres. Both types of medications require repeated treatment and the route of administration through intravitreal also poses risk of endophthalmitis, lens injury, retinal detachment, vitreous hemorrhage, increase in intraocular pressure and cataract.

The pathophysiology of DME is not fully understood yet. It was suggested that it is likely to be a chronic low-grade inflammation. Through this theory, topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been used to treat DME. The investigators postulate that the addition of topical NSAIDs in patients receiving standard treatment of laser therapy may help to improve the outcome of patients with DME. It has the advantage of no needles involved, convenient, easy to use and minimal side effects. The aim of this study is to evaluate the outcome of visual acuity and macular thickness at 3 months post treatment between laser monotherapy and combination of laser and topical nepafenac in DME.