Brimonidine efficacy on intraocular pressure control following Nd: YAG laser capsulotomy

To determine the efficacy of 0.2% brimonidine eye drops on control of intraocular pressure following Neodymium: Yttrium-Aluminum-Garnet (Nd: YAG) laser posterior capsulotomy. Study Design: Quasi experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Study was conducted in department of Ophthalmology, Combined Military Hospital Peshawar of six months duration from Oct 2013 to Mar 2014. Material and Methods: A total of 182 patients were included in this study. One drop of 0.2% brimonidine one hour prior to laser treatment was instilled in the eyes of patients. Cornea was anaesthetized with topical 0.5% proparacaine hydrochloride. "Ocular instruments ® Abraham Capsulotomy YAG contact lens" was used along with Q-switched Zeiss VISULAS YAG III (Nd: YAG) laser system to make a hole of 3-4mm in the posterior capsule using minimum amount of total laser energy. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 15.0. Mean and standard deviation was calculated for numeric variables like age and intraocular pressure at different occasions. Frequency and percentage was calculated for categoric variable i.e. gender. Efficacy was stratified among age and gender to see effect modifiers. Results: The mean age of participants was 63.3 ± 7.7 years. Out of 182 patients, 109 (59.9%) were male while remaining 73 patients (40.1%) were female. Brimonidine 0.2% eye drops proved effective in 162 patients (89.0%). Stratification of age and sex with regard to efficacy of 0.2% brimonidine eye drops was carried out. Conclusion: The use of 0.2% brimonidine has been proven effective to counteract the IOP increase following Nd: YAG laser capsulotomy in this study. (author)