Is it necessary to wait several minutes between applications of different topical ophthalmic solutions? A preliminary study with tropicamide eye drops in healthy dogs

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of topical tropicamide when placed at different time intervals before or after a saline drop. Animals studied Eight healthy Labrador and golden retriever dogs. Procedures The effect of 1% tropicamide on pupillary diameter (PD) was measured over 240 min when administered alone (control) and then 1 and 5 min prior to, or following, application of a saline drop, with 1‐week washout between each of the five trials. Data were analyzed using repeated‐measures ANOVA and Tukey post hoc test. Results Only 6/110 pairwise comparisons among the 5 trials were statistically significant (p ≤ .035), with post‐hoc analysis showing no significant differences (p ≥ .14) between the overall means of all trials. In all five trials, maximal PD was reached 30 min after tropicamide application and maintained until 210 min for 180 min (p = .0005). Conclusions Our results suggest that waiting 1 min between applications of different ophthalmic solutions may be sufficient for maximal drug effect. Care should be taken when extrapolating these results to other species and different ophthalmic formulations.

Using a smartphone‐based digital fundus camera for screening of retinal and optic nerve diseases in veterinary medicine: A preliminary investigation

“…27 The need for mydriasis may represent a drawback in veterinary medicine, as most general practitioners generally perform ophthalmoscopy without pupillary dilation. 2 It is deemed unlikely that veterinarians in a busy clinical practice would spend extra time to dilate the pupils (30 minutes with topical tropicamide in dogs) 29 before using the fundus camera for screening purposes.…”

Medical Management versus PACK-CXL in Dogs with Infectious Keratitis: A Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol

“…Based on this study design, a cause-and-effect relationship between an intervention and disease outcome can be established [ 44 ]. According to a literature search (all publication abstracts and titles were screened), five randomized controlled trials [ 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 ] were published in the Journal of Veterinary Ophthalmology in 2021, out of 80 clinical studies (short reports and reviews were excluded). Information regarding study design, such as sample size calculation or masking, was missing in some publications.…”