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No ocular side effects seen with use of pediatric nasal corticosteroid
J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus. 2011;48(5):311-317.
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Ocular side effects were not observed in children with allergic rhinitis who were prescribed intermittent intranasal budesonide for more than 2 years, a study found.
Researchers evaluated 150 children aged 8 years to 15 years who had used an average daily dose of 100 µg of intermittent intranasal budesonide for more than 2 years for allergic rhinitis. A control group included 90 children aged 7 years to 15 years with allergic rhinitis who had received no treatment.
There was no statistically significant difference in ocular findings between the two cohorts.
There was no cataract formation, corneal ectasia, ocular hypertension or glaucoma or dry eye in any of the children who had used intranasal budesonide. However, the researchers noted that later occurrence of side effects could not be ruled out.
"Because there were no ocular side effects determined by the parameters used in the current study, chronic intermittent use of nasal budesonide in the pediatric age group, especially in children with perennial allergic rhinitis, seems clinically safe for the ocular structures studied," the study authors said.