title: Intractable eye pain: indication for triptans.
abstract: Management of pain is difficult in many eye diseases. Particularly in patients undergoing surgical procedures, postoperative intractable pain is a major concern and severely influences the patient's comfort. We present 13 patients (eight male, five female, mean age 36 years) in whom sumatriptan, a highly selective 5-HT1B/1D agonist that is normally used as a specific anti-migraine drug, was used for the treatment of pain following photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). In two patients both eyes were operated on different days, resulting in a total of 15 operated eyes. A positive clinical response was achieved in all patients. In particular, in four patients, who received a second dose prophylactically 4 h following the first dose and before the recurrence of pain, we achieved excellent efficacy and stable control of pain. Further controlled studies are needed to investigate the usefulness of 5-HT1B/1D agonists in painful eye conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany. arne.may@klinik.uni-regensburg.de
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: May
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gamulescu
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bogdahn
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Lohmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005123:Eye / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D054018:Lasers, Excimer; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010148:Intractable Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000188:drug therapy; D018903:Photorefractive Keratectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018170:Sumatriptan / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists; D018170:Sumatriptan