A randomised controlled trial of ranibizumab with and without ketorolac eyedrops for exudative age-related macular degeneration

AIMS:

To evaluate whether ketorolac eyedrops and ranibizumab intravitreal injections would provide additional benefit over ranibizumab alone in the treatment of choroidal neovascularisation (CNV).

METHODS:

This was a pilot study of eyes with new-onset CNV. A total of 56 patients were enrolled consecutively and randomised in a 1:1 ratio to receive combination treatment with intravitreal ranibizumab and topical ketorolac (group 1) or ranibizumab alone (group 2). All patients received monthly 0.5-mg ranibizumab intravitreal injections for 3 months, after which monthly injections were administered in accordance with the standard of care. Group 1 patients also self-administered one drop of ketorolac three times a day for 6 months. All patients were followed up for 6 months.

RESULTS:

At 6 months, both groups showed a significant improvement in best-corrected visual acuity (both, p<0.001). The two treatments did not show significant differences in terms of the number of ranibizumab injections required. However, the mean 6-month change in central macular thickness (CMT) in the combination group was -124 µm (-29.7%; p<0.001), while in the ranibizumab-only group, the change was -86.9 µm (-19.5%; p=0.001); thus, the combination treatment resulted in a greater reduction (p=0.003). The combination treatment had no adverse effects.

CONCLUSIONS:

This pilot study is the first to prospectively investigate the efficacy and safety of a combination of 0.45% ketorolac eyedrops three times a day and intravitreal ranibizumab injections in patients with CNV, and suggests that topical ketorolac supplements the activity of intravitreal ranibizumab in reducing CMT in CNV.