Oral fluoroquinolone does not increase retinal detachment risk

This retrospective population-based study found that oral fluoroquinolone use was not associated with an increased risk of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment or symptomatic retinal breaks.

Following the publication of a controversial paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association that reported an increased risk of retinal detachment with current use of oral fluoroquinolones, the authors of the current paper sought to examine this premise.

Using the Rochester Epidemiology Project’s electronic medical record system, they identified 38,046 patients prescribed oral fluoroquinolone medication, 48,074 prescribed macrolide and 69,079 prescribed beta-lactam during an eight-year period.

There was no difference in the rate of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment requiring surgical repair or the rate of symptomatic retinal breaks within a year of the first prescription.

They conclude that currently available data do not support changes in oral fluoroquinolone prescription patterns for the general population based on retinal detachment risk.