AIM:To compare the effect of recombinant human epidermal growth factor eye drops and deproteinized calf blood extract eye drops on corneal edema after phacoemulsification.

METHODS:Totally 72 cases(72 eyes)of patients undergoing phacoemulsification were selected and divided into the observation group and the control group by random number table method. After surgery, the observation group were treated with deproteinized calf blood extract eye drops while the control group were treated with recombinant human epidermal growth factor eye drops. The degree of corneal edema, subjective symptom score, corneal endothelium count, changes of corneal thickness and postoperative visual acuity recovery were compared between the two groups at different time points after surgery.

RESULTS:Corneal edema in the two groups was significantly milder at 1wk after surgery than that on the 1^st day after surgery(P<0.001). There was no significant difference in the degree of corneal edema and test results of visual acuity between the two groups at 1wk after surgery(P>0.05). Compared with 1d after surgery, the subjective symptom score and corneal thickness of the two groups significantly decreased on the 7^th day after surgery(P<0.05). At 7d after surgery, the above indexes were significantly better in the observation group than the control group(P<0.05). At 1mo after surgery, the corneal endothelium count was significantly larger in the observation group than the control group(P<0.001).

CONCLUSION:Both of recombinant human epidermal growth factor eye drops and deproteinized calf blood extract eye drops can significantly relieve corneal edema and improve visual acuity of patients after phacoemulsification. However, the latter has obvious advantages over the former in the repair of corneal endothelial cell injury after surgery.