Determination of best Regime for Administration of Atropine Eye…

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distorted vision. Uncorrected refractive errors are frequent cause

of reduced vision in children so it is very important for children to

have an eye examination. Symptoms include blur vision, squeezing

the eyes, eye strain, headache etc. Some children can present with

strabismus.1

The prevalence rate of visual impairment caused due to

uncorrected refractive errors is estimated to be 153 million people,

of whom eighty lacs are blind.2 Refractive errors can be diagnosed

by vision examination and may be corrected with glasses and contact

lenses.3 High level of accommodative power in children affects the

refractive status of the eye as lens’ optical power and shape can be

altered by contracting ciliary muscles. Therefore, it is necessary to

relax the accommodation fully while assessing their refractive error.

In this regard cycloplegic drugs are instilled in eyes for accuracy

in measurements. Cycloplegic drugs produce paralysis of ciliary

muscles which is called cycloplegia. These drugs can be instilled

in the conjunctival sac, such as atropine, homatropine, tropicamide,

scopolamine and cyclopentolate, which are known as cycloplegics.

By paralyzing the parasympathetic nerve supply all accommodation

can be abolished and latent refractive errors become manifest.

Cyclopentolate produces a rapid and intense mydriasis and

satisfactory cycloplegia. Paralysis of accommodation and full

dilatation of pupil are usually completed within 1 hour and the effects

worn off within 24 hours; occasionally the duration of action is much

longer, even 3 or 4 days.4 Atropine is an anti–cholinergic drug used

to temporarily paralyze accommodation reex in children and also

as a mydriatic to dilate pupil. It is the most efcient cycloplegic

agent. Although it is considered a relatively safe drug, some local

and systemic side effects do occur. The recommended regimen for

atropine Cycloplegia has been 7 to 10 applications within 3 to 4 days.5

The purpose of this study is to nd out the best regime for atropine

instillation to achieve maximum cycloplegia. It will benet both the

practitioner and children while doing Cycloplegic refraction.

Methods

This is a cross sectional study. Patients who presented at paediatric

ophthalmology department Mayo Hospital Lahore, Pakistan were

Adv Ophthalmol Vis Syst. 2017;6(1):42‒45. 42

©2017 Afsar et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which

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Determination of best regime for administration of

atropine eye drops for cycloplegia

Volume 6 Issue 1 - 2017

Adnan Afsar,1 Javaria Asif Bajwa2

1Optometry scholar, Pakistan Institute of Community

Ophthalmology, Pakistan

2Optometry scholar, King Edward Medical University, Pakistan

Correspondence: Adnan Afsar, Optometry scholar, Pakistan

Institute of Community Ophthalmology, A10, Sardar Ahmad Jan

colony Peshawar, Pakistan, Tel +0923349092917,

Email

Received: August 26, 2016 | Published: January 26, 2017

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the best regime for administration of atropine eye drops for

cycloplegia and to see the effect of cycloplegia on different types of refractive error.

Methods: This cross–sectional study was conducted in Pediatric Clinic, Mayo Hospital

Lahore, Pakistan in the duration of 3 months to assess the best regime for administration of

1% atropine eye drops for cycloplegia and to see the effect of cycloplegia on different types

of refractive error. Non probability purposive sampling was done and 30 patients of age