Sir,
We have noticed an error in the Cochrane review ‘Interventions for recurrent corneal erosions’ published in September 2012 (and in the previous version published 2009).1
In 1999 Eke and colleagues2 published the unexpected finding that following corneal abrasion with a fingernail, the use of topical lubricants increased the risk of recurrent erosion syndrome. (Despite this it remains common clinical practice to prescribe lubricants.) The Cochrane review cites this as the only study addressing the use of lubricants to prevent recurrent erosion syndrome.
However, there appears to be a discrepancy in how they cite Eke’s findings. In the Cochrane review’s abstract and results section, the authors correctly cite the Eke paper as indicating that lubricants carry an increased risk of recurrent erosion. However in the discussion section there appears to be an error: the authors state that the Eke paper indicates that lubricants reduce the risk of recurrent erosion.
We call for a correction in the Cochrane review, to emphasise the unexpected evidence that lubricants do not reduce the risk of recurrent erosion syndrome, but rather increase it.
References
Watson SL, Ming-Han HL, Barker NH . Interventions for recurrent corneal erosions. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2012; (9) CD001861 doi:10.1002/14651858.CD001861.pub3.
Eke T, Morrison DA, Austin JV . Recurrent symptoms following traumatic corneal abrasion: prevalence, severity and the effect of a simple regimen of prophylaxis. Eye 1999; 13: 345–347.
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Spitzer, D., Habib, A., Imonikhe, R. et al. Lubricants to prevent recurrent corneal erosion: an error in the Cochrane review. Eye 27, 1329–1330 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2013.189
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2013.189
