Short-Term Effects of Adding Topical Ketorolac to Intravitreal Bevacizumab in Diabetic Macular Edema: A Crossover Randomized Clinical Trial.

Purpose: To evaluate the short-term additive effects of topical ketorolac to intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) in the management of center-involved diabetic macular edema (CI-DME).

Methods: In a randomized double-masked placebo-controlled crossover clinical trial, eyes with CI-DME and the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) between (20/40) and (20/400) were included. These eyes should have had at least one intravitreal anti-VEGF injection in the preceding two months. They were randomized into two groups; while both groups received two IVB injections with a six-week interval, one group received topical ketorolac every 6 hr in the first interval and artificial tears every 6 hr as a placebo in the second interval and the other group received the same medications using a crossover method. The main outcome measures were changes in BCVA and central macular thickness (CMT).

Results: Fifty-seven eyes of 35 patients with CI-DME were included in the study. The mean BCVA improvement was -0.09 0.47 logMAR in the periods of receiving ketorolac and -0.03 0.12 logMAR in the periods of placebo treatment, respectively ( = 0.99). Corresponding changes in CMT were -13.1 170.1 and +11.7 157.7 µm in the ketorolac and placebo periods, respectively ( = 0.322). The treatment effect was not statistically significant regarding both BCVA and CMT changes. Statistical analysis also disclosed that the carryover effect was insignificant for BCVA and CMT. Although the period effect was not significant for BCVA, it was at a meaningful level for CMT changes ( = 0.012).

Conclusion: This crossover clinical trial demonstrated that in the course of DME treatment with IVB injections, topical ketorolac did not have any additive beneficial effect at least during a six-week period.