Abstract

Ocular inflammatory disease, especially keratitis and uveitis, may cause considerable scarring and visual loss. Corticosteroids improve visual prognosis, but have many unwanted effects, including glaucoma, cataract and enhancement of viral and fungal infections. These adverse effects prompted the introduction of the topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent oxyphenbutazone (Tanderil) which we discussed in 1972.¹ Although oxyphenbutazone has been in use for some years, it is of proven value probably only in episcleritis, a self-limiting condition, where the drug increases the rate of improvement during the first week of treatment.² There is little evidence that it is useful in other external eye diseases in man; it does not suppress the inflammatory corneal response which produces the visual loss in recurrent herpes simplex keratitis.