Effects of traditional Sino-Japanese herbal medicines on aqueous flare elevation after small-incision cataract surgery.

We evaluated prospectively the effects of traditional Sino-Japanese herbal medicines on elevation of aqueous flare. Fifty-four patients with age-related cataract undergoing phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation were studied. In the control group, 20 patients received no herbal medicine. In the treated groups, 14 patients were given Orengedoku- to (Huanglian-Jie-Du-Tang in Chinese) granules (7.5 g daily), 10 patients were given Kakkon-to (Ge-Gen-Tang in Chinese) granules (7.5 g daily), and 10 patients were given Sairei-to (Cai-Ling-Tang in Chinese) granules (9.0 g daily), for 3 days before surgery, the day of surgery, and for 7 days after surgery. Aqueous flare was measured before and after surgery. The differences in preoperative flare intensities among the four groups were not significant. In the control group, the flare was 29.4 photon counts/msec on day 1, and then gradually decreased. The flare intensities on days 1, 3, and 5 in the Orengedoku-to and Kakkon-to groups were significantly lower than in the control group. The flare intensities in the Sairei-to group were the same as those of the controls. Oral administration of Orengedoku-to and Kakkon-to decreased aqueous flare elevation after small-incision cataract surgery. Sairei-to had no effect on the elevation.