The effect of ketorolac and naphazoline-antazoline eye drops on ocular complaints after cataract surgery

Cataracts are the leading diseases that cause blindness. Cataracts can be treated with surgery. Pain, itching, burning, and a foreign body sensation in the eye are common ocular complaints of patients in recovery. In this study, we compared the effect of Ketorolac eye drops and naphazoline antazoline eye drops on reducing complaints of surgery.

This randomized clinical trial study was performed from February 2016 to March 2017 on patients who were candidates for cataract surgery at Feyz University Hospital in Isfahan, Iran.  In this study, 54 patients were enrolled in two groups receiving Ketorolac eye drops and naphazoline antazoline (NA) eye drops. After the operation, patients' ocular complaints such as burning, itching, pain, and severity were evaluated every 15 minutes in recovery and every half hour in the ward until discharge from the hospital.

In this study, 54 patients in two groups of 27 were studied. In the post-anesthesia care unit, the burning sensation in the naphazoline-antazoline group was significantly lower than in the ketorolac group (P=0.02). Patients in the NA group had less foreign body sensation in the eye in recovery (P=0.97) and the ward (P<0.001) than in the ketorolac group. Mean Pain intensity in the recovery unit (P=0.39) and ward unit in the ketorolac group were less than NA (P<0.001). In the recovery unit in the NA group, the eye-burning sensation was significantly lower than in the ketorolac group. The foreign body sensation in the NA group was less than the ketorolac group but there was no significant difference between the two groups. In the NA group, itching of the eyes was less than in the ketorolac group.

It can be concluded that ketorolac drops have been more effective in reducing post-operative eye pain than NA and NA drops have been more effective in reducing burning, itching and foreign body sensation in the eyes than Ketorolac.