Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Therapy and Recurrent Acute Anterior Uveitis

Abstract

Objective: To investigate oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) therapy in the prevention of recurrences of uveitis in patients with recurrent nongranulomatous, idiopathic, or HLA-B27-associated acute anterior uveitis (AAU).

Methods: Retrospective case series of 59 patients with recurrent AAU treated with celecoxib or diflunisal.

Results: The average duration of NSAID therapy was 21.2 ± 5.7 months. The average number of relapses for all patients prior to systemic NSAID therapy was 2.84 per person-year follow-up. These relapses declined to 0.53 per person-year follow-up with NSAID therapy (p < .001). The relapse rates prior to and after treatment in the HLA-B27-positive group (n = 21) were compared with the relapse rates prior to and after treatment in the HLA-B27-negative group (n = 38) and were also statistically significant (p < .001).

Conclusion: Morbid attacks and the cumulative exposure to corticosteroids can be prevented with systemic NSAID therapy in patients with recurrent AAU.

KEYWORDS::

• anterior uveitis
• nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
• recurrent uveitis
• inflammatory eye disease

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.