How does nepafenac affect the choroidal thickness after uneventful cataract surgery?

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of topical nepafenac on choroidal thickness (CT) following uneventful phacoemulsification surgery (UPS) using enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT).

METHODS: This prospective study included 45 randomly selected eyes (23 eyes of 23 patients used nepafenac (nepafenac group) and 22 eyes of 22 control patients did not use nepafenac (nepafenac-free group)) undergoing small-incision UPS. All participants underwent full ophthalmologic examination. CT measurements were performed at subfoveal, 1.0 mm temporal, and 1.0 mm nasal using the EDI-OCT preoperatively, 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month postoperatively.

RESULTS: The mean subfoveal, nasal, and temporal CT in the nepafenac-free group had changed from 268.95 ± 63.59 μm to 283.36 ± 65.63 μm, 237.22 ± 64.09 μm to 253.09 ± 67.27 μm, and 235.95 ± 75.22 μm to 259.09 ± 63.66 μm preoperatively to 1 month postoperatively, respectively ( p  < 0.001, p  < 0.001, p  < 0.001, respectively). The mean subfoveal, nasal, and temporal CT in the nepafenac group had changed from 259.65 ± 55.99 μm to 276.65 ± 59.21 μm, 236.34 ± 55.40 μm to 251.00 ± 62.39 μm, and 247.56 ± 50.88 μm to 261.13 ± 53.73 μm preoperatively to 1 month postoperatively, respectively ( p  < 0.001, p  < 0.001, p  < 0.001, respectively). The postoperative CT continued to increase significantly during the follow-up period in two groups. However, compared to the change from baseline to month 1, there was not a statistically significant difference between the groups at subfoveal, nasal, and temporal CT ( p : 0.633, p : 0.865, and p : 0.328, respectively).

CONCLUSION: UPS may cause a significant increase in CT. Although increasing in the CT was lower in the nepafenac group than the nepafenac-free group, there was not a statistically significant difference between the groups.