balafilcon-a and Pain--Postoperative

To assess the effect of two silicone hydrogel contact lenses with high oxygen permeability in patients having photorefractive keratectomy (PRK).. Farabi Eye Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.. Sixty patients (120 eyes) who had bilateral PRK were enrolled in this double blind clinical trial. Each patient was fitted with a Lotrafilcon B (Air Optix(®)AQUA, Ciba Vision, Duluth, GA, USA) lens in one eye and a Balafilcon A (PureVision™ Bausch & Lomb, Rochester, NY, USA) lens in the fellow eye. Patients' responses to a subjective questionnaire in terms of pain, foreign body sensation, photophobia, blurred vision and epiphora were evaluated on the first and third postoperative days.. Mean pain score for Lotrafilcon B and Balafilcon A contact lenses was 4.43±3.18 vs. 5.45±3.37 on the first postoperative day and 3.43±3.23 vs. 3.88±3.01 on the third postoperative day. However, the difference was only significant in the first 24h after surgery (P=0.032). Foreign body sensation was clinically higher with Balafilcon A contact lens (5.0±3.47 vs. 4.08±3.34 on day 1 and 4.98±3.52 vs. 3.55±3.20 on day 3) and the difference was statistically significant on the first and the third postoperative days (P=0.042 and 0.002, respectively). There was no statistically significant difference between two contact lenses in terms of photophobia, epiphora and blurred vision (P>0.05).. The Lotrafilcon B lens resulted in significantly less postoperative pain and discomfort after PRK, especially in the first 24h after PRK.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Bandages, Hydrocolloid; Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic; Double-Blind Method; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Hydrogels; Male; Middle Aged; Myopia; Pain, Postoperative; Photorefractive Keratectomy; Retrospective Studies; Silicones; Young Adult

To compare the effects of balafilcon A and samfilcon A silicone hydrogel bandage contact lenses on postoperative pain control and epithelial healing time after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). Seventy-four eyes of 37 patients who underwent bilateral PRK were included in this randomized clinical trial study. In the end of the surgery, a balafilcon A lens was used in one eye and a samfilcon A lens was used in the fellow eye randomly. Pain, blurred vision, epiphora, photophobia, and foreign body sensation were assessed on the first and third postoperative day using a visual analogue scale (0 = no ocular pain or discomfort, 10 = highest level of ocular pain and discomfort). For balafilcon A and samfilcon A lenses, mean scores for pain were 6.22 ± 2.81 and 3.11 ± 2.90 on first postoperative day (p < 0.001) and 1.57 ± 1.65 and 0.68 ± 0.85 on third postoperative day (p = 0.001), respectively; mean scores for foreign body sensation were 6.11 ± 2.53 and 3.19 ± 2.72 on first postoperative day (p < 0.001) and 3.16 ± 1.92 and 1.35 ± 1.43 on third postoperative day (p < 0.001), also respectively; and mean scores for epiphora were 6.46 ± 2.64 and 5.46 ± 3.40 on first postoperative day (p = 0.007) and 1.68 ± 1.60 and 1.32 ± 1.31 on third postoperative day (p = 0.065), again respectively. No significant difference in blurred vision or photophobia emerged between the lenses on first and third postoperative day after PRK. On the third postoperative day, reepithelialization was complete in 83.7% of eyes with the balafilcon A lens and 89.1% of eyes fitted with the samfilcon A lens. Wearing samfilcon A lenses after photorefractive keratectomy can significantly manage pain, decrease foreign body sensation on first and third postoperative day, and reduce epiphora on first postoperative day.

Topics: Adult; Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic; Epithelium; Eye; Female; Humans; Hydrogels; Male; Pain, Postoperative; Photorefractive Keratectomy; Silicones; Time Factors; Wound Healing; Young Adult