Topical Autologous Insulin Application for the Treatment of Corneal Epithelium Defect After Ocular Surgeries
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2009-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Topical insulin application has been proved recently to increase corneal reepithelization
rate over diabetic animals. However, its effectiveness on corneal epithelial wound healing in
patients who received pars planar vitrectomy (PPV) for diabetic retinopathy and penetrating
keratoplasty has not been reported. In this study, we plan to perform a prospective
randomized study to determine the effectiveness of topical insulin as a primary treatment for
corneal epithelial defect in patients undergoing vitrectomy for diabetic retinopathy and
penetrating keratoplasty. All patients enrolled in this study have received corneal
epithelial debridement at the end of the ocular surgeries, namely PPV for diabetic
retinopathy and penetrating keratoplasty. The patients were randomized into two treatment
groups. In the control group, the patients receive conventional postoperative eye drops
including topical steroid, antibiotic and mydriatics. In the experimental group, the patients
receive topical insulin eye drops in addition to conventional postoperative eye drops. The
duration for the corneal surface to completely re-epithelize, the incidence of corneal
complications due to delayed surface re-epithelization (e.g. infectious corneal ulcer,
corneal melting, sterile corneal ulcer, corneal neovascularization), and the incidence of
recurrent epithelial break down after initial epithelization will be compared between these
two groups. Patients undergoing PPV for diabetic retinopathy and penetrating keratoplasty
will be compared separately.