Retinopathy of the Premature: Therapy with Topical Ketorolac

Ketorolac topic. A therapeutic possibility in the Retinopaty of Prematurity? Retrospective Title: cohort study Summary: Objective: To evaluate whether topical ketorolac diminishes the progression of Retinopathy of the Premature (ROP) to severe stages that have an impact on the visual capacity of the child. Methods: Research of retrospective cohort, design before-and-after, comparing the need for cryotherapy for ROP between the groups of preterm newborns of less than 1250 g. or 30 weeks of gestational age (eg) that had high-risk ophthalmological signs to develop ROP or initial ROP and that were dealt with topical ketorolac during the years 2001 and 2002 and the preterm children of similar characteristics admitted to the HUMN of Córdoba, Argentina during 1999 and 2000, without treatment. Results: Forty-three children received treatment and 35 children were in the control group. Of the children who received treatment one (2.3%) developed threshold of ROP and cryotherapy was performed. In the control group 6 (17%) needed cryotherapy, the difference of incidence shows: OR= 0.12, interval of confidence of 95%= 0 to 0.85 (P = 0,041). Adverse effects attributable to the ketorolac were not detected. Conclusion: the use of ketorolac in ophthalmic drops diminished the incidence of severe forms of ROP and the requirements of retinal ablation. It seems to be well tolerated by preterm children and it would not interfere with its systemic balance. This first experience with topical nsad to diminish the progression of ROP only points out the possibility of developing a new therapeutic tool in this devastating disorder, and requires the realization of randomized clinical trials to demonstrate its efficacy and safety. non-steroid antiinflammatory drugs (nsad).