Tobramycin
Tobramycin appears here as one product: Tobradex, a 0.1% + 0.3% eye drop pairing tobramycin sulfate, an aminoglycoside antibiotic, with dexamethasone to treat Ocular Inflammation.
Key points
- A history of allergic reaction to any aminoglycoside rules out tobramycin, including as an eye drop, because cross-sensitivity across the class is recognised.
- Tobramycin is broad-spectrum and fast-acting, killing susceptible bacteria across a wide range of species rather than simply slowing their growth.
- No clinically relevant drug interactions have been described with the topical ocular form.
How does Tobramycin work?
Tobramycin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic that binds to the bacterial ribosome, the structure a cell uses to build proteins, and stops the bacterium from making what it needs to survive. The effect is rapid bacterial death across a wide range of susceptible species. In Tobradex, tobramycin clears the infection while dexamethasone, a corticosteroid, reduces the swelling and redness that accompany eye inflammation. This fixed-dose combination is the only Eye Care product under tobramycin.
