Treatment of Bullous Keratopathy with Honey

Mansour et al. (2004) carried out a prospective study of 24 consecutive patients with bullous keratopathy, who were not immediate surgical candidates. One drop of honey was applied to the cornea after informed consent had been obtained. Patients were instructed to use topical honey three or four times daily. 

Bullous keratopathy is a major complication of cataract surgery. In the past, penetrating keratoplasty was considered the most effective therapy for the symptomatic stage of the disease. Other surgical options have included conjunctival flaps, enucleation (reserved for blind, painful eyes) and, more recently, deep phototherapeutic keratectomy and amniotic membrane transplantation. Medical therapy of bullous keratopathy using hypertonic saline (Nad 5%) has been of marginal benefit due to its relatively weak osmotic effect. 

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