ReviewPharmaceutics2022
Highlighting the Microbial Contamination of the Dropper Tip and Cap of In-Use Eye Drops, the Associated Contributory Factors, and the Risk of Infection: A Past-30-Years Literature Review.
Review in Pharmaceutics, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- The therapeutic potential of medicinal mushrooms in ophthalmology: from ethnomycology to evidence-based applications.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- Microbial contamination of medicines, medical devices, cosmetics, child and personal care products: a comprehensive review of secondary contamination risks in home-use settings.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- Clinical Benefits of Preservative-Free Treatment for Glaucoma with a Focus on Preservative-Free Latanoprost.Ophthalmology and therapy · 2025Review
- Congenital Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction: Natural Course, Diagnosis and Therapeutic Strategies.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Stability of BTI Devices for Plasma Rich in Growth Factors (PRGF) Eye Drop Delivery Under Varying Storage and Handling Conditions.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Characterization of infectious bacterial keratitis in Östergötland County, Sweden: a 10-year retrospective study.Journal of ophthalmic inflammation and infection · 2024Article
- Evaluating and Managing the Microbial Contamination of Eye Drops: A Two-Phase Hospital-Based Study.Pharmaceutics · 2024Article
- Multiple use of preservative-free single dose unit dexamethasone 0.1% eye drops is safe within 24 hours.BMJ open ophthalmology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The sterility of eye drop content is a primary concern from manufacturing until opening, as well as during handling by end users, while microbial contamination of the dropper tip and cap are often disregarded. The contamination of these sites during drug administration represents a risk of microbial transmission and ocular infection. In this review, we aim to assess microbial contamination of the dropper tip and cap of in-use eye drops, the associated contributory factors, and the risk of infection. We conducted a literature search of the MEDLINE, PubMed, and Cochrane Central databases. A total of 31 out of 1503 studies were selected. All the studies conducted in different settings that documented microbiologically contaminated in-use eye drops were included. Our review showed that microbial contamination of the dropper tip and cap of in-use eye drops ranged from 7.7 to 100% of the total contaminated tested samples. Documented contributory factors were conflicting across the literature. Studies investigating the association between eye infection and microbial contamination of the dropper tip and cap were scarce. New technologies offer a promising potential for securing the long-term sterility of eye drop content, tips, and caps, which could benefit from more research and well-defined study protocols under real-life scenarios.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.