Characteristics of excluded studies [ordered by study ID]
| Study | Reason for exclusion |
|---|---|
| Adenis 1995 | Multiple conditions were included in the study population: RCT of participants with acute conjunctivitis or acute or chronic blepharitis treated with ciprofloxacin or rifamycin ophthalmic solution; 8 of 41 evaluable participants had chronic blepharitis; results for chronic blepharitis were not reported separately |
| Adenis 1996b | Multiple conditions were included in the study population: RCT of participants with acute conjunctivitis or acute or chronic blepharitis treated with ciprofloxacin or norfloxacin ophthalmic solution; 50 of 131 participants had acute or chronic blepharitis; results for blepharitis were not reported separately |
| Asano-Kato 2003 | Not a comparative trial: interventional case series of 8 patients (16 eyes) for the treatment of atopic blepharitis with ceramide gel; intervention was supplemental to face washing |
| Bahn 1954 | Not a comparative trial: report of a case series of 100 patients with seborrheic blepharitis treated with selenium sulfide ophthalmic ointment |
| Barnhorst 1996 | Not population of interest: randomized, intra-individual comparative study of 13 ocular rosacea participants treated with lid hygiene for both eyes and metronidazole topical gel for 1 eye; participants with chronic blepharitis were included, but chronic blepharitis was not required for study participation |
| Bartholomew 1982 | Not population of interest: limited cross-over study of 35 ocular rosacea participants treated with systemic oxytetracycline dihydrate or placebo for 6 weeks; participants with blepharitis were included, but blepharitis was not required for study participation |
| Blackie 2008 | Not population of interest: RCT of healthy participants assigned to 1 of 3 warm compress methodologies |
| Breakey 1969 | Multiple conditions were included in the study population: RCT of participants with external ocular disease treated with 1 of 2 types of topical steroid-antibiotics; 7 participants with blepharitis or meibomitis were followed; results for blepharitis were not reported separately |
| Bron 1991 | Multiple conditions were included in the study population: RCT of participants with conjunctivitis, blepharoconjunctivitis, keratoconjunctivitis or blepharitis treated with ofloxacin or chloramphenicol ophthalmic solution; 6 of 84 evaluable participants had blepharitis; results for blepharitis were not reported separately |
| Burnside 1966 | Multiple conditions were included in the study population: clinical trial of participants with acute or chronic conjunctivitis treated with topical triamcinolone or hydrocortisone; 1 participant had meibomitis |
| Cagle 1981 | Not population of interest: RCT of participants with ocular infections treated with topical tobramycin or gentamicin. Scope of conditions for study enrollment was acute inflammations, including conjunctivitis, blepharitis, blepharoconjunctivitis, and blepharokeratoconjunctivitis |
| Chisari 2003 | Multiple conditions were included in the study population: RCT of participants with external ocular disease treated with 1 of 2 types of topical antibiotics; 62 participants with blepharoconjunctivitis were followed; results for blepharoconjunctivitis were not reported separately |
| Cohen 1954 | Not a comparative trial: case series of 40 patients with blepharitis marginalis treated with selenium disulfide |
| Filho 2011 | Not a comparative trial: case series of patients with chronic blepharitis associated with Demodex treated with oral ivermectin |
| Foulks 1988 | Multiple conditions were included in the study population: RCT of participants with bacterial ocular surface infections treated with 1 of 2 types of topical antibiotics; 39 participants with conjunctivitis, blepharitis, or blepharoconjunctivitis were followed; results for blepharitis were not reported separately |
| Fox 1973 | Not population of interest: RCT of participants with acute or subacute external ocular infections treated with topical gentamicin or placebo |
| Friedlaender 1998 | Multiple conditions were included in the study population: RCT of participants with blepharitis, conjunctivitis, or blepharoconjunctivitis treated with ofloxacin eyedrops 2 or 4 times per day; 25 of 50 participants had blepharitis; results for blepharitis were not reported separately |
| Frucht-Pery 1989 | Not a comparative trial: case series of 16 patients with ocular rosacea treated with oral doxycycline |
| Frucht-Pery 1993 | Not population of interest: RCT of 24 ocular rosacea participants treated with systemic oxytetracycline dihydrate or placebo for 6 weeks; participants with blepharitis were included, but blepharitis was not required for study participation |
| Gordon 1970 | Multiple conditions were included in the study population: RCT of participants with acute, subacute, or chronic external eye infections treated with topical gentamicin or placebo; 14 of 89 participants had blepharitis or blepharoconjunctivitis; results for blepharitis and blepharoconjunctivitis were not reported separately |
| Gwon 1992a | Multiple conditions were included in the study population: RCT of participants with external ocular infections treated with ofloxacin or tobramycin ophthalmic solution; 51 of 169 evaluable participants had blepharitis; results for blepharitis were not reported separately |
| Gwon 1992b | Multiple conditions were included in the study population: RCT of participants with external bacterial ocular infections treated with ofloxacin or gentamicin ophthalmic solution; no evaluable participants in the ofloxacin group had blepharitis (2 in the gentamicin group); results for blepharitis were not reported separately |
| Jacobson 1988 | Multiple conditions were included in the study population: RCT of participants with external ocular infections treated with topical norfloxacin or tobramycin; 1 participant with blepharitis was included; results for blepharitis were not reported separately |
| Kastl 1987 | Not population of interest: RCT of participants with eyelid infections treated with mercuric oxide or placebo; conditions studied are most likely acute; “screening criteria were hordeolum or eyelash scaling”, “suggestive of infectious blepharitis”; did not mention inflammation as selection criteria |
| Kitano 1998 | Not population of interest: RCT of participants with external bacterial infections treated with norfloxacin or micronomicin ophthalmic solution; ages of participants ranged from 0 to 90+ years; results for participants with blepharitis ages 16 years and older were not reported separately |
| Korb 1994 | Not a comparative trial: interventional case series of patients with MGD treated with 4 in-office meibomian gland expressions and daily applications of warm compresses and lid scrubs with baby shampoo for 6 months |
| Lamberts 1984 | Not population of interest: RCT of participants with acute blepharitis or conjunctivitis treated with 1 of 2 types of topical antibiotics; participants with chronic blepharitis, defined by more than 6 episodes of infection within the previous 12 months, were excluded from the study |
| Leibowitz 1981 | Multiple conditions were included in the study population: RCT of participants with external eye disease treated with tobramycin or gentamicin ophthalmic solution; 40 of 56 evaluable participants had blepharoconjunctivitis; results for blepharitis were not reported separately |
| Lin 2004 | Not intervention of interest: RCT of participants with squamous blepharitis treated with liquefacient nitrogen therapy or control |
| Maxwell 1964 | Not an interventional study: chart review of patients with ocular lesions to compare treatment with Maxitrol suspension versus ointment; Maxitrol is a combination of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory |
| Miller 1992a | Not population of interest: RCT of participants with external ocular bacterial infections treated with topical norfloxacin or gentamicin; participants with chronic blepharitis, defined by having symptoms of longer than 7 days’ duration, were excluded |
| Miller 1992b | Not population of interest: RCT of participants with external ocular bacterial infections treated with topical norfloxacin or chloramphenicol; participants were only included if the infection was acute |
| Mitsui 1986 | Not population of interest: RCT of participants with external bacterial infections treated with ofloxacin or micronomicin ophthalmic solution; ages of participants ranged from 9 to 80+ years; results for participants with blepharitis ages 16 years and older were not reported separately |
| Nozik 1985 | Multiple conditions were included in the study population: 2 trials of participants with external ocular infections treated with topical combination antibiotics; the number of included participants with blepharitis was not reported |
| Olson 1969 | Not population of interest: condition of study was trachoma. |
| Pecori Giraldi 1990 | Exhausted all possible resources: copy of conference proceeding could not be obtained |
| Pettinger 2005 | Not an interventional study: comment on lid scrubs with sodium bicarbonate for the treatment of blepharitis |
| Portellinha 1983 | Not an RCT: 47 participants with chronic marginal blepharitis used either baby shampoo (n = 39) or boric water solution (n = 8) to scrub eyelids; study authors stated that treatment allocation was random (“foi aleatória”); however, based on the distribution of participants it was unlikely that the sequence generation was randomized (P < 0.000003) |
| Power 1993 | Multiple conditions were included in the study population: RCT of participants with acute conjunctivitis or acute or chronic blepharitis treated with ciprofloxacin or chloramphenicol ophthalmic solution; the number of included participants with chronic blepharitis was not reported |
| Rhee 2007 | Not population of interest: RCT of participants with acute blepharoconjunctivitis treated with topical antibiotic/steroid combinations; participants with infectious viral or bacterial conjunctivitis, keratitis, blepharitis, or endophthalmitis were excluded |
| Sawa 1997 | Not population of interest: RCT of participants with ocular surface inflammatory disorders treated with bromfenac sodium or pranoprofen ophthalmic solution; ages of participants ranged from less than 19 to more than 80 years; results for participants with blepharitis ages 16 years and older were not reported separately |
| Schechter 2009 | Not population of interest: RCT of 37 participants with rosacea-associated eyelid and corneal pathology treated with cyclosporine ophthalmic solution or artificial tear solution for 3 months; participants with rosacea blepharitis were included, but outcomes were limited to “dry eye findings” and did not include lid findings |
| Shulman 1996 | Multiple conditions were included in the study population: RCT of participants with chronic blepharitis or conjunctivitis treated with topical antibiotic/steroid or steroid; 80 of 111 participants had chronic blepharitis; results for blepharitis were not reported separately |
| Souchier 2008 | Not an RCT: study of 20 patients with MGD; all patients were treated with eyelid hygiene and warm compresses, but 10 of these patients who did not respond to lid hygiene were also given oral minocycline |
| Torkildsen 2011 | Not population of interest: RCT of participants with moderate-to-severe acute blepharitis/blepharoconjunctivitis treated with tobramycin/dexamethasone ophthalmic suspension or azithromycin ophthalmic solution |
| Tovilla 1992 | Not population of interest: RCT of participants with acute bacterial conjunctivitis, blepharitis, or blepharoconjunctivitis treated with norfloxacin or chloramphenicol ophthalmic solution; participants with symptoms for more than 7 days were excluded |
| Watson 2010 | Not population of interest: RCT of participants with moderate-to-severe dry eye treated with TOSM or saline; participants had moderate-to-severe dry eye symptoms, but not diagnosed with blepharitis specifically |
| Wilson 1982 | Multiple conditions were included in the study population: RCT of participants with external eye diseases treated with topical tobramycin or gentamicin; 53 of 93 evaluable participants had blepharitis or blepharoconjunctivitis; results for blepharitis were not reported separately |
| Wojtowicz 2011 | Not population of interest: RCT of participants with dry eye treated with omega-3 supplement or placebo; although participants with MGD were included it was not required for study inclusion |
| Yactayo-Miranda 2009 | Not outcome of interest: RCT of participants with chronic blepharoconjunctivitis; participants received no treatment, topical levofloxacin alone, or topical levofloxacin plus eyelid scrub; only outcomes measured were bacterial changes from conjunctival swabs, “care was taken not to touch the eyelid margins or lashes” when swabbing |
| Zhao 2010 | Multiple conditions were included in the study population: participants with dry eye and ocular inflammation were included; inclusion criteria were symptoms of blepharitis such as red eyes, photophobia, and burning sensation, but participants were not specifically diagnosed with blepharitis and results for blepharitis participants were not reported separately |
MGD: meibomian gland dysfunction
RCT: randomized controlled trial
TOSM: therapeutic ocular surface medium