Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2017 Aug;95(5):509-517.
doi: 10.1111/aos.13468. Epub 2017 May 10.

Ophthalmic nepafenac use in the Netherlands and Denmark

Andrea V Margulis  1 , Eline Houben  2 , Jesper Hallas  3 , Jetty A Overbeek  2 , Anton Pottegård  3 , Tobias Torp-Pedersen  4 , Susana Perez-Gutthann  1 , Alejandro Arana  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

Ophthalmic nepafenac use in the Netherlands and Denmark

Andrea V Margulis et al. Acta Ophthalmol. 2017 Aug.

Abstract

Purpose: To describe nepafenac use in the Netherlands and Denmark with reference to its approved indications. For context, we also describe the use of ketorolac and diclofenac.

Methods: We identified users in the PHARMO Database Network (the Netherlands, 2008-2013) and the Danish national health registers (Denmark, 1994-2014). We described prevalence of cataract surgery and duration of use in patients with cataract surgery with and without diabetes.

Results: In the Netherlands, 9530 nepafenac users (mean age, 71 years; 60% women) contributed 12 691 therapy episodes, of which 21% had a recently recorded cataract surgery. Of 2266 episodes in adult non-diabetic patients with cataract surgery, 60% had one bottle dispensed (treatment duration ≤21 days). Of 441 episodes in adult diabetic patients with cataract surgery, 90% had up to two bottles dispensed (≤60 days). Denmark had 60 403 nepafenac users (mean age, 72 years; 58% women) and 73 648 episodes (41% had recorded cataract surgery). Of 26 649 nepafenac episodes in adult non-diabetic patients with cataract surgery, 92% had one bottle dispensed. Of 3801 episodes in adult diabetic patients with cataract surgery, 99.8% had up to two bottles dispensed. Use patterns of nepafenac, ketorolac and diclofenac were roughly similar in the Netherlands, but not in Denmark.

Conclusion: Less than half of therapy episodes were related to cataract surgery; around 90% of episodes with surgery were within the approved duration. Underrecording of ophthalmic conditions and procedures was a challenge in this study.

Keywords: cataract; cataract surgery; diclofenac; ketorolac; nepafenac; off-label; ophthalmic NSAIDs.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Episodes of Use of Nepafenac, Ketorolac and Diclofenac, the Netherlands. The figure starts in 2009, which is the first year with complete data. Dashed lines correspond to extrapolated data for 2013 (observed data up to 31 October 2013).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Episodes of Use of Nepafenac, Ketorolac and Diclofenac, Denmark
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alcon (2015): Summary of product characteristics. Nevanac 1 mg/ml eye drops, suspension (nepafenac). Surry, UK: Alcon Laboratories (UK) Ltd; Available at http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/medicines/human/medici.... (Accessed 22 Aug 2016).
    1. Alkin Z, Osmanbasoglu OA, Ozkaya A, Karatas G & Yazici AT (2013): Topical nepafenac in treatment of acute central serous chorioretinopathy. Med Hypothesis Discov Innov Ophthalmol 2: 96–101. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Allergan Pharmaceuticals Ireland (2014): Package leaflet: information for the user. Acular® 0.5% eye drops. Westport, Ireland: Allergan Pharmaceuticals Ireland; Acular® topical ophthalmic solution (ketorolac trometamol). Available at http://www.mhra.gov.uk/home/groups/spcpil/documents/spcpil/con1423805271.... (Accessed 13 Jul 2016).
    1. Caldwell M & Reilly C (2008): Effects of topical nepafenac on corneal epithelial healing time and postoperative pain after PRK: a bilateral, prospective, randomized, masked trial. J Refract Surg 24: 377–382. - PubMed
    1. Callanan D & Williams P (2008): Topical nepafenac in the treatment of diabetic macular edema. Clin Ophthalmol 2: 689–692. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types