Olopatadine ophthalmic solution and eye rubbing after general anesthesia: a pilot study

Purpose: Patients often rub their eyes shortly after emergence from general anesthesia even though the surgery was not physically close to their eyes. Eye rubbing could theoretically result in corneal abrasion. The purpose of this prospective randomized study was to evaluate the use of olopatadine ophthalmic solution during surgery with general anesthesia. Methods: 100 adults undergoing general anesthesia for elective non-ophthalmic surgery were randomized into 2 groups: Group 1 received 2 drops of olopatadine in each eye after induction of anesthesia, followed by taping the eyes shut. Group 2 had their eyes taped shut (controls). The number of attempts the patient made to rub their eyes after emergence in the operating room (OR) and post anesthesia care unit (PACU) was recorded. A postoperative patient interview was done. Results: At emergence in the OR, more patients rubbed their eyes in the control (40%) vs the olopatadine (21%) group (p Conclusions: The study demonstrated that instillation of olopatadine ophthalmic drops decreased the incidence of eye rubbing after emergence from anesthesia compared to controls. This difference did not persist in the PACU as the incidence of eye rubbing was 42% in both groups. Keywords: Eye rubbing, Olopatadine Ophthalmic Solution, General Anesthesia
Table of Contents Abstract Introduction Methods Results Discussion References Introduction Patients undergoing non-ophthalmic surgery with general anesthesia (GA) are at risk of developing corneal abrasions. In a study of 60,965 [...]