A Prospective, Randomized, Double-Blind Trial To Evaluate The Role of Topical Anaesthetics In Controlling Pain After Corneal Abrasion In The Emergency Department

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12611000448943

Enrollment

180

Registered

2011-05-03

Start date

2011-11-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to gain a greater understanding of the pain caused by eye injuries (corneal abrasions) and to determine if medication drops applied to the eye in the following 24 hours are a safe and effective form of pain relief.

Interventions

The Treatment Group will receive Tetracaine eye drops that are to be self administered (one drop) every 30 minutes into the injured eye while awake for the following 24 hours. The treatment group will receive a total of 1 ml Tetracaine Hydrochloride 1% (2x 0.5ml minims, approximately 30 drops).

Study design

Allocation

Randomised controlled trial

Intervention model

Parallel

Primary purpose

Treatment

Masking

Blinded (masking used)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria includes any simple acute corneal abrasions from mechanical trauma, ultraviolet light, foreign body, or from removal of foreign body by the physician. For patients to be eligible for this study they also need to have presented to the Emergency Department within 36 hours of their initial injury.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria. There are a number of reasons that subjects may be excluded from participating in this study. If patients present to the Emergency Department more that 36 hours after their initial injury they will be excluded as the majority of corneal abrasion healing will already have occured. If patients are under the age of 18. If patients have had previous eye surgery or cataracts. If patients wear contact lenses or if their injury was caused from contact lens wear. If patients are unable to give informed consent. If patients are suffering from infectious or chemical conjunctivitis. If the patients eye contains a grossly contaminated foreign body. If the patient is suffering from an ocular infection. If the patient currently has herpes keratitis. If the patient is allergic to Tetracaine or similar medication classes. If the injury requires urgent ophthalmologic evaluation (e.g. penetrating eye injuries, large or complicated corneal abrasions or injuries causing a significant disruption of vision).

Outcome results