open access
Effects of preservatives used in ocular medications on the eye: a comparative review
Affiliations- NIMS Medical College and Hospital, NIMS University, Jaipur, India
open access
Abstract
Preservatives are added to eye drops in order to increase the shelf life of these medications. However, these preservatives
may have some adverse effects on the eye. Various adverse effects of preserved ocular medications have been pointed
out by multiple investigators time and again. These preservatives are added to most ocular medicines in today’s practice. Given the fact that many patients need to instill these medications for long periods, such as anti-glaucoma medications, the adverse effects of these preservatives need to be taken into account. Benzalkonium chloride is the most widely used preservative in ocular medications and has a lot of adverse effects. Various other alternative preservatives have been developed in more recent times. In this article, a broad overview regarding various researches exploring the different adverse effects of these preservatives has been compiled and presented comparatively.
Abstract
Preservatives are added to eye drops in order to increase the shelf life of these medications. However, these preservatives
may have some adverse effects on the eye. Various adverse effects of preserved ocular medications have been pointed
out by multiple investigators time and again. These preservatives are added to most ocular medicines in today’s practice. Given the fact that many patients need to instill these medications for long periods, such as anti-glaucoma medications, the adverse effects of these preservatives need to be taken into account. Benzalkonium chloride is the most widely used preservative in ocular medications and has a lot of adverse effects. Various other alternative preservatives have been developed in more recent times. In this article, a broad overview regarding various researches exploring the different adverse effects of these preservatives has been compiled and presented comparatively.
Keywords
preservatives; ocular preservatives; benzalkonium chloride; ocular surface tolerance; ocular tolerance; adverse effects; ocular preservative toxicity
About this articleTitle
Effects of preservatives used in ocular medications on the eye: a comparative review
Journal
Issue
Vol 6 (2021): Continuous Publishing
Article type
Review paper
Pages
44-52
Published online
2021-03-22
Page views
6892
Article views/downloads
2772
DOI
Bibliographic record
Ophthalmol J 2021;6:44-52.
Keywords
preservatives
ocular preservatives
benzalkonium chloride
ocular surface tolerance
ocular tolerance
adverse effects
ocular preservative toxicity
Authors
Rupankar Sarkar
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