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Oral fluoroquinolones not associated with retinal detachment, researchers find
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According to a new study in Ophthalmology, doctors can continue oral fluoroquinolone use without increasing the patient’s risk for retinal detachment.
Kapoor and colleagues determined that rhegmatogenous retinal detachment or symptomatic retinal breaks were not associated with use of the medication.
The researchers analyzed the data of 38,046 patients who were prescribed oral fluoroquinolone medications between Jan. 1, 2003, and June 30, 2011, according to the study abstract. They recorded rates of retinal detachment repair and prophylaxis procedures in various time periods and compared the data with patients who were prescribed oral macrolide and β-lactam antibiotics during the same trial period.
Patients who were prescribed oral macrolides totaled 48,074 and patients who were prescribed β-lactam antibiotics totaled 69,079, as detailed in the study.
Results showed that retinal detachment repair procedures were performed in 0.03% of fluoroquinolone patients, 0.02% of macrolide patients and 0.03% of β-lactam patients within 365 days. Prophylaxis procedures for symptomatic retinal breaks were performed in 0.01% of fluoroquinolone patients, 0.02% of macrolide patients and 0.02% of β-lactam patients within 365 days.
Similar rates were demonstrated for other time periods, according to the study.
"When considering complications across the clinical spectrum of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, any increased risk would need to be clear and significant to classify systemic fluoroquinolone exposure as a true modifiable risk factor," the authors concluded. "Given the limitation of any undetected 30-day risk increase to less than one acute retinal detachment per 10,000 exposures (based on study power calculations), and the corroboration of no increased 365-day post-prescription risk, currently available data would not support alteration of oral fluoroquinolone prescription patterns for the general population on the basis of retinal detachment risk."
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Ophthalmology. 2014;doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2013.12.006.
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