Patient Assessment of Topical Anesthetic Effectiveness for Intravitreal Injections
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2009-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
There are currently several different commercially available topical eye drops and gels used
to reduce eye discomfort (topical anesthetics) during and after eye injections. Dr. Pollack
is performing a research study to evaluate three commercially available topical anesthetics
(eye numbing treatments) to determine if individuals have a preference for one over the
other. The three topical anesthetics being studied are 1) 0.5% proparacaine hydrochloride
(generic, Akorn, Inc), 2) 0.5% proparacaine hydrochloride (generic, Akorn, Inc) PLUS 4%
lidocaine hydrochloride topical solution (generic, Roxane Laboratories), and 3) 3.5%
lidocaine hydrochloride ophthalmic gel (Akten, Akorn, Inc). These eye anesthetics are NOT
experimental medications. They are all commercially available topical anesthetics currently
used in our offices and their use is widespread among retina specialists throughout the
United States. Dr. Pollack will randomly select one topical anesthetic to use and he will ask
you to grade your level of pain associated with the injection procedure. Answering these
questions should take less than one minute of your time and your identity will NOT be
revealed with the results of this study. The results of this study will be used to inform
doctors which eye anesthetics patients find most effective for pain control during eye
injections.