General practitioners would expect to see aplasia roughly once each century

BMJ 1995;311:451 (12 August)

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General practitioners would expect to see aplasia roughly once each century

EDITOR,--Although chloramphenicol eye drops may induce bonemarrow aplasia, it might be helpful to put the risk in perspective.¹In our practice of 4600 patients we use chloramphenicol eyedrops as our first line treatment for conjunctivitis and afterremoval of foreign bodies. We also frequently prescribe chloramphenicoldrops on the advice of local ophthalmologists. In total, weissue 360 prescriptions for chloramphenicol drops or ointmenta year. Assuming that the risk of aplastic anaemia after topicaladministration is the same as that after oral administration,we would expect to see one case every 83-138 years in the practiceas a whole, or one case every 240-400 years per general practitioner.

General practitioner General practitioner Caldbeck Surgery,Caldbeck, Wigton, Cumbria CA7 8DS

Jim Cox, Eleri M Roderick

Doona M, Walsh JB. Use of chloramphenicol as topical eye medication: time to cry halt? BMJ 1995;310:1217-8. (13 May.)

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Use of chloramphenicol as topical eye medication: time to cry halt?: Marie Doona and J Bernard Walsh
BMJ 1995 310: 1217-1218. [Extract] [Full Text]