Antimicrobial resistance in topical treatments for microbial keratitis: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

IntroductionThere is evidence for increased resistance against the antimicrobials used to treat keratitis. This review aims to provide global and regional prevalence estimates of antimicrobial resistance in corneal isolates and the range of minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) with their associated resistance breakpoints.Methods and analysisWe report this protocol following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses Protocols guidelines. We will conduct an electronic bibliographic search in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library. Eligible studies will report in any language data for the resistance or MIC for antimicrobials against bacterial, fungal or amoebic organisms isolated from suspected microbial keratitis. Studies that only report on viral keratitis will not be included. There will be no time restrictions on the date of publication. Screening for eligible studies, assessment of risk of bias and data extraction will be conducted by two reviewers independently, using predefined inclusion criteria and prepiloted data extraction forms. We will resolve disagreements between the reviewers by discussion and, if required, a third (senior) reviewer will arbitrate. We will assess the risk of bias using a tool validated in prevalence studies. The certainty of the evidence will be assessed using the Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach. Pooled proportion estimates will be calculated using a random-effects model. Heterogeneity will be assessed using the I-2 statistic. We will explore differences between Global Burden of Disease regions and temporal trends.Ethics approval and disseminationEthics approval is not required as this is a protocol for a systematic review of published data. The findings of this review will be published in an open-access, peer-reviewed journal.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42023331126.

Automated summary

This study aims to provide global and regional prevalence estimates of antimicrobial resistance in corneal isolates and their associated minimum inhibitory concentrations. The research will include studies on bacterial, fungal, or amoebic organisms isolated from suspected microbial keratitis, reporting data on resistance or minimum inhibitory concentrations of antimicrobials.This study is of great significance for the research of antimicrobial resistance in keratitis, providing guidance for clinical treatment.