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ABSTRACT
Purpose: To assess the safety and efficacy of topical olopatadine versus placebo and other topical anti-allergic medications in treating allergic conjunctivitis.
Methods: We systematically searched the literature for randomized-controlled trials that included patients with allergic conjunctivitis, compared olopatadine versus placebo or alternative anti-allergic medications, and examined itch, conjunctival hyperemia, composite symptom or sign scores, and/or occurrence of adverse events. We assessed the safety and efficacy of topical olopatadine when compared with placebo or alternative anti-allergic medications using meta-analysis.
Results: When compared with placebo, topical olopatadine is associated with a pooled-mean difference (MD) in ocular itch of –1.33 (p < 0.00001) and ocular hyperemia of –0.92 (p < 0.00001). When compared with other agents, olopatadine was inferior to alcaftadine on ocular itch (pooled-MD = 0.39; p < 0.00001) but comparable with epinastine and ketotifen.
Conclusions: Topical olopatadine is a safe and effective treatment modality for allergic conjunctivitis, whereas alcaftadine appears to be superior to olopatadine in reducing ocular itch.
DECLARATION OF INTEREST
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.