Evaluating Treatments for Demodex Blepharitis 

Research published in The Ocular Surface evaluating the efficiency of the different treatments of Demodex blepharitis found that local treatments may have overall lower systemic side effects.  

Demodex blepharitis treatment efficiency was studied through a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies reporting treatment efficacy that focused on mite counts, overall improvement of symptoms, and mite eradication. These parameters were stratified based on the type of treatments and the mode of delivery (local or systemic). Studies were pulled from the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, ClinicalTrials.gov, Google Scholar, and Science Direct databases.  

Nineteen studies, consisting of 14 observational studies and 5 randomized clinical trials, were included in the analysis. These studies involved a total of 934 patients, 1741 eyes, and 13 different treatments. Fifteen studies analyzed for mites count, 14 for eradication rate, and 13 for symptom improvement.  

“Except usual lid hygiene for mites count, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario ointment (CHEO) for both eradication rate and symptoms, and CHEO, 2% metronidazole ointment, and systemic metronidazole for eradication rate, all treatments were efficient,” said researchers.  

Further analysis did not reveal significant differences in effectiveness between local and systemic treatments for mites count, eradication rate, and symptom improvement. 

“Because of less systemic side effects, local treatments seem promising molecules in the treatment of Demodex blepharitis,” said researchers.  

Reference  

Navel V, Mulliez A, Benoist d’Azy C, et al. Efficacy of treatments for Demodex blepharitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Ocular Surface. 2019;17(4): 655-669. doi:10.1016/j.jtos.2019.06.004