Collagen shield drug delivery: therapeutic concentrations of tobramycin in the rabbit cornea and aqueous humor.

Collagen shields made of porcine collagen were placed in a solution containing tobramycin sulfate (40 or 200 mg/ml) for five minutes, then applied to rabbit eyes. One, four, or eight hours after application, the corneas, aqueous humor samples, and shields were assayed for antibiotic. At all intervals, the concentration of antibiotic in the corneas and aqueous humor samples exceeded the mean inhibitory concentration for tobramycin, as determined for most strains of Pseudomonas. Shields immersed in 200 mg/ml tobramycin produced significantly higher concentrations of antibiotic in the cornea at one hour than subconjunctival injections of tobramycin (20 mg) (P = .0001). Shields immersed in 40 mg/ml tobramycin produced higher, although not significantly higher, concentrations of antibiotic in the cornea at one hour than subconjunctival injections of tobramycin (20 mg) (P = .318). Shields immersed in commercially available tobramycin drops or injectable tobramycin solution (40 mg/ml) caused no epithelial damage visible by slitlamp examination. Collagen shields containing antibiotics can serve as a vehicle for drug delivery and may prove superior to current methods for preoperative and postoperative antibiotic prophylaxis and the initial treatment of bacterial keratitis.