COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF CONVENTIONAL MEDICAL TREATMENT ALONE VERSUS CONVENTIONAL MEDICAL TREATMENT WITH AMNIOTIC MEMBRANE TRANSPLANTATION IN INFECTIVE CORNEAL ULCER

Objective: To compare the effect of amniotic membrane transplantation along with conventional therapy and the conventional therapy alone for the treatment of infective corneal ulcer. Methodology: This study was conducted at Ophthalmology Department, Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar. The duration of study was 6 months, i.e., from April 2010 to October 2010, in which a total of 68 patients were included using WHO software for sample size determination. They were divided into two equal groups of 34 each. Non probability purposive sampling technique was used. Results: In this study, mean age was 50±0.24 years. Forty six (67.6%) patientswere male while 32.4% (n=22) patients were female. Conventional Medical Treatment alone was effective in 87% (n=30) cases while Conventional Medical Treatment with Amniotic Membrane was effective in 96% (n=33) cases with a p-value of 0.03. Conclusion: This study showed encouraging results of amniotic membrane transplantation along with conventional treatment in corneal ulcer in improving both symptoms and signs.