AIM: To systematically evaluate the effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs(NSAIDs)administrated at different time points on the incidence of cystoid macular edema(CME)following phacoemulsification.

METHODS: The Cochrane Library, PubMed, BMC, National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI), and VIP databases were searched to identify the clinical randomized controlled trials of comparing effects of NSAIDs administered at different time points on the incidence of CME and the central foveal thickness following phacoemulsification. The experiment group received topical NSAIDs preoperatively and postoperatively, while the control group received topical NSAIDs postoperatively. The RevMan software 5.2 and Stata software 12.0 were used in the Meta-analysis.

RESULTS: Six studies were included in this Meta-analysis. No statistically differences were observed in the incidence of CME after 1wk postoperatively(OR=1.58, 95%CI: 0.48-5.18, P>0.05), in the incidence of CME after 1mo postoperatively(OR=0.78, 95%CI: 0.30-2.00, P>0.05), in the central foveal thickness after 1wk postoperatively(WMD=-7.20, 95%CI: -15.17 to 0.77, P>0.05), and in the central foveal thickness after 1mo postoperatively(WMD=-3.98, 95%CI: -14.05 to 6.08, P>0.05). However, statistically significant differences were found in the incidence of CME after 3mo postoperatively (OR=0.22, 95%CI: 0.11-0.43, P<0.01)and in the central foveal thickness after 3mo postoperatively(WMD=-18.25, 95%CI: -33.80 to -2.70, P<0.05).

CONCLUSION: A combination of NSAIDs administrated preoperatively and postoperatively can reduce the incidence of the CME and the thickness of the macular centrall. Thereby, the effects of administrating NSAIDs both preoperatively and postoperatively have more advantages than that of administrating NSAIDs postoperatively alone.