Effect of post operative Timolol 0.5% on the first day post operative intraocular pressure after uncomplicate small incision cataract surgery

Abstract

Background:-Raised intraocular pressure is the most common postoperative complication of cataract surgery which is multi factorial .14 In most cases it is transient and return to normal in 95.7% of non glaucomatous patients with or without treatment with in 24hour Aim:- To determine the effect of post operative timolol 0.5% on first day post operative intraocular pressure in uncomplicated small incision cataract surgery. Design:- A double masked prospective randomized Clinical trial at Kikuyu Eye Unit. Methods:- With ethical approval, patients who underwent uncomplicated small incision cataract surgery from September to October 2011 were randomly assigned in the two arms of the study.AlI of the measurments of the the intraocular pressure were done by the investigator with a Tonopen. The data was analysed using SPSS version 17. Results: - A total of 98 patients were included in the study out of the 126 initially recruited. Two( 2%) patients in the intervention group developed post operative lOP greater or equal to 30mmHg and 4.1% in the control groups' (P= 1.00). 10.~1o in the intervention and 20.4% in the control groups developed post operative high intraocular pressure (lOP> 21mmHg) (p=O.161). The mean Pre-operative intraocular pressure was 14.6mmHg (SD 4.6) and that of postoperative was found to be 15.5mmHg (SD 6.3) for all patients (p= 0.144), which showed no statistically significance difference. The mean post operative intraocular pressure in the intervention group was 15.1mmHg (SD 5.8) and in the control group 15.9mmHg (SD 6.8) and there was no statistically significant difference between the intervention and the control groups (p= 0.544). Conclusion: - Post operative prophylactic Timolol 0.5% bas no any effect on first day post operative intraocular pressure after uncomplicated smaIl incision cataract surgery as compared to placebo. Uncomplicated small incision cataract surgery does not cause significant post operative intra ocular pressure spikes. Recommendation: There is no need to start anyone on Timolol 0.5% post cataract surgery for preventing post operative lOP rise after uncomplicated small incision cataract surgery but further studies with larger sample sizes are recommended.