Difluprednate 0.05% eye drops, also known by its brand name Durezol, is a prescription corticosteroid that's used to treat eye inflammation. It's approved for adults and children who've just had eye surgery or who have anterior uveitis. The drops are placed directly in the eye(s) 4 times per day for at least 2 weeks. After this time, your prescriber will slowly lower your dose until it's safe to stop the medication altogether. Typical side effects include swelling in the front of the eye and light sensitivity. Difluprednate (Durezol) is available as a generic.
Eye inflammation and pain from eye surgery
Difluprednate (Durezol) is a corticosteroid medication. When it's applied directly into your eyes, it lowers inflammation in the eye to help treat eye swelling, pain, and redness.
Source:Â DailyMed
Along with its needed effects, a medicine may cause some unwanted effects. Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention.
Check with your doctor immediately if any of the following side effects occur:
More common
Blurred vision
change in color vision
decreased vision or other changes in vision
difficulty seeing at night
eye discomfort
eye redness
increase in blood flow to the whites of the eyes
increased sensitivity of the eyes to sunlight
painful irritation of the front clear part of the eye
sensitivity of the eyes to light
swelling or redness of the eye and lining of the eyelid
Some side effects may occur that usually do not need medical attention. These side effects may go away during treatment as your body adjusts to the medicine. Also, your health care professional may be able to tell you about ways to prevent or reduce some of these side effects. Check with your health care professional if any of the following side effects continue or are bothersome or if you have any questions about them:
Less common
Other side effects not listed may also occur in some patients. If you notice any other effects, check with your healthcare professional.
Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
Works well to lessen eye inflammation and eye pain
Few side effects since the medication is placed directly into the eyes
Approved for people of all ages
Need to use four times a day
Can't use if you have an eye infection
Might be difficult for some people to use correctly
Be sure to start using difluprednate (Durezol) a day after your eye surgery to help treat eye pain and inflammation from the procedure. Following your surgery, you'll continue to use the eye drops every day for at least 2 weeks. Then, your prescriber will give you specific instructions on how to slowly lower your dose until it's safe to completely stop the medication.
Let your prescriber know if your eye symptoms don't start to improve after you've used difluprednate (Durezol) for a few days. They might consider a different medication to help relieve your symptoms.
Keep difluprednate (Durezol) at a temperature between 68 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Protect the medication from light by keeping the bottle in the medication box that you got from the pharmacy.
Make sure you know how to place the difluprednate (Durezol) drops in your eye. Ask your ophthalmologist or pharmacist if you have any questions.
Take out any contact lenses in your eye(s) before you use difluprednate (Durezol). This medication has a preservative in it that can damage the contacts. Wait at least 10 minutes before you put your lenses back into your eye(s).
Wash your hands before you put difluprednate (Durezol) drops in your eye(s). Don't touch the dropper tip with your hands, and don't let the tip touch your eye or any other surface. This lowers the risk for eye infections by keeping the medication from getting contaminated with germs. Your eye specialist might prescribe two bottles of difluprednate (Durezol), one for each eye, to lower the risk of contamination.
Tilt your head backward and look up. Gently pull your bottom eyelid down to make a small pocket. Then, hold the difluprednate (Durezol) bottle upside down right above the eye. Squeeze the bottle so that 1 drop of medication falls into the pocket. Close your eye and press a finger against the inside corner of your eye for about a minute to help keep the medication in your eye.
If you need to use other eye drop medications in addition to difluprednate (Durezol), wait at least 5 minutes between using each medication. This helps give your eye time to fully absorb each medication.
Difluprednate (Durezol) can cause some serious health issues. This risk may be even higher for certain groups. If this worries you, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about other options.
Difluprednate (Durezol) is an eye drop medication that you should place onto the surface of the eye only. Don't put difluprednate (Durezol) on or into any other place on your body.
Risk factors: Long-term use | History of glaucoma or cataracts | History of viral infections (including herpes simplex) in the eye | Recent cataract surgery
If you need to take difluprednate (Durezol) for 10 days or longer, you'll need regular eye exams to check the health of your eyes. Tell your prescriber if you have any vision changes, eye pain, or new symptoms of an eye infection while you're using this medication.
Using steroid eye drops like difluprednate (Durezol) after eye surgery can slow down the healing process in the eye. Let your prescriber know if you've recently had cataract surgery or other type of eye surgery.
Difluprednate (Durezol) contains a preservative that can get absorbed into soft contact lenses and damage them. If your prescriber said you can wear contact lenses during treatment, take the contacts out before you use the eye drops. Wait at least 10 minutes after you use difluprednate (Durezol) before you put your contact lens back into your eye(s).
Dosage | Quantity | Price as low as | Price per unit |
---|---|---|---|
5ml of 0.05% | 1 eye dropper | $221.38 | $221.38 |
Eye inflammation and pain from eye surgery: The typical starting dose is 1 drop into the affected eye 4 times a day starting 24 hours after surgery and continuing for 2 weeks. Then, the dose is typically lowered to 1 drop twice a day for a week. Your prescriber will give you further instructions depending on how your eye recovers.
Endogenous anterior uveitis: The typical starting dose is 1 drop into the affected eye 4 times a day for 2 weeks. After that, your prescriber might lower your dose slowly, depending on your symptoms.
Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. Tell your healthcare professional if you are taking any other prescription or nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) medicine.
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American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. (2024). Tips for administering eye drops.
American Optometric Association. (n.d.). Anterior uveitis.
Caplin Steriles Limited. (2024). Difluprednate emulsion [package insert]. DailyMed.
KhalafAllah, M. T., et al. (2019). Difluprednate versus prednisolone acetate after cataract surgery: A systemic review and meta-analysis. British Medical Journal Open.
SafeMedication. (n.d.). How to use eye drops.
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