Use of brimonidine before LASIK with femtosecond laser-created flaps for the correction of myopia: a contralateral eye study.

PURPOSE

To evaluate the changes in the incidence of subconjunctival hemorrhage, hyperemia, photophobia, flap displacements, and flap retractions in myopic patients who have undergone LASIK with an IntraLase 15-kHz femtosecond laser (intraLASIK) with or without the application of brimonidine tartrate 0.2% in one eye.

METHODS

Two hundred eyes of 100 myopic patients were enrolled in this brimonidine tartrate fellow eye control study. These myopic patients were treated with the intraLASIK technique in both eyes. Only 1 eye was treated with brimonidine tartrate 0.2% 30 minutes before surgery. One day after surgery, subconjunctival hemorrhage, photophobia, and hyperemia were evaluated. Flap slippage and flap retractions were evaluated 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after surgery.

RESULTS

Of the 100 eyes treated with brimonidine tartrate before intraLASIK, 3 (3%) eyes showed subconjunctival hemorrhage. Complex hyperemia-photophobia was found in 8 (8%) of 100 eyes immediately after the surgery compared with non-brimonidine tartrate treated eyes (79% and 92%, respectively). Eyes treated with brimonidine showed no incidence of flap complications, whereas eyes not treated with brimonidine showed 11% flap retraction.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that brimonidine tartrate 0.2% administered before intraLASIK provides a reduction in the incidence of subconjunctival hemorrhage, hyperemia, and photophobia without increasing flap complications.