Prophylactic timolol for the prevention of high intraocular pressure after cataract extraction. A randomized, prospective, double-blind trial.
Eyes undergoing routine intracapsular cataract extraction (without alpha-chymotrypsin) often experience marked ocular hypertension in the first six hours after surgery. We conducted a randomized, prospective, double-blind study to determine if timolol maleate would prevent this increase in pressure. Thirty-five eyes undergoing routine cataract extraction were given a drop of either timolol 0.5% or placebo twice before and twice after surgery. Nine (56.3%) of 16 control eyes and 2 (10.5%) of 19 timolol-treated eyes had pressures above 30 mm Hg at six hours after surgery (P less than 0.025). Thus, prophylactic timolol 0.5% can substantially reduce the incidence of severe early postoperative ocular hypertension.
D002387:Cataract Extraction; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure / Q000187:drug effects*; D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions; D011412:Propanolamines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D013999:Timolol / Q000494:pharmacology*
D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions; D011412:Propanolamines; D013999:Timolol