Dexamethasone Intracanalicular Insert: A Review in Treating Post-Surgical Ocular Pain and Inflammation

<p>Compliance with Ethical Standards</p> <p> </p> <p><i>Disclosure</i>: The preparation of this review was not supported by any external funding.</p> <p> </p> <p><i>Conflicts of interest</i>: Arnold Lee and Hannah Blair are salaried employees of Adis International Ltd/Springer Nature, are responsible for the article content and declare no relevant conflicts of interest.</p> <p> </p> <p>Additional information about this Adis Drug Review can be found <a href="http://www.springer.com/gp/adis/products-services/adis-journals-newsletters/adis-drug-reviews">here</a><b></b></p> <p> </p> <p>Abstract</p><p>Dextenza^®, an intracanalicular insert that is placed into the lower punctal opening of the eye, gradually releases dexamethasone for up to 30 days to alleviate pain and inflammation associated with ophthalmic surgery. A significantly higher proportion of patients treated with the dexamethasone intracanalicular insert than with the placebo insert had no pain at day 8 (co-primary endpoint, 7 days post-operation) across three pivotal phase III trials, and the inflammation co-primary endpoint (absence of anterior chamber cells) at day 14 (13 days post-operation) was met in two of three trials. Overall, the dexamethasone intracanalicular insert was effective and generally well tolerated for the treatment of post-surgical ocular pain and inflammation following cataract surgery. As low patient adherence is an issue for topical ophthalmic anti-inflammatory medications, the convenience (ease of insertion, single application with no patient input and typically no removal required) of the dexamethasone intracanalicular insert makes it a promising emerging option for the treatment of ocular inflammation and pain following ophthalmic surgery.</p><p><br></p><p>© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020<br></p>