Work

Comparative Effectiveness and Safety of Rebamipide Versus Diquafosol in the Treatment of Dry Eye Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Year: 2026

Type: review

Study designs: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis

Abstract: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to compare the efficacy and tolerability of rebamipide (REB) and diquafosol (DQS), two widely used mucin secretagogues, in the treatment of dry eye disease. A comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane CENTRAL, and Scopus was conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, identifying six comparative studies enrolling 277 patients across South Korea and Japan. Pooled analyses were performed using random-effects models, standardized mean differences (SMDs) for continuous outcomes and risk ratios (RRs) for dichotomous outcomes with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Tear break-up time showed no significant difference between REB and DQS (SMD = -0.21 seconds, 95% CI: -0.52 to 0.11, p=0.20). Subjective symptom scores were also comparable (SMD=0.11, 95% CI: -0.16 to 0.38, p=0.40). Corneal staining scores were nearly identical (SMD=-0.002, 95% CI: -0.324 to 0.321, p=0.993), while conjunctival staining showed a nonsignificant trend favoring REB (SMD=-0.403, 95% CI: -1.508 to 0.702, p=0.475, I²=87.6%). These findings suggest comparable efficacy between both agents as first-line mucin secretagogues in the available studies, though formal equivalence cannot be established from this evidence base, and more large-scale trials are required to validate the findings.

Source: Cureus

DOI: 10.7759/cureus.116835