Pre-Emptive Topical Ketorolac Tromethamine 0.5% for Panretinal Photocoagulation

To evaluate the efficacy of topical ketorolac tromethamine 0.5% given pre-emptively a day before, for alleviating pain in patients undergoing panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) treatment. A controlled single-blinded study was conducted on 33 patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR; severe nonproliferative DR, proliferative DR, or advanced diabetic eye disease) who required PRP treatment in both eyes simultaneously. Each eye of the patients was randomly assigned for ketorolac tromethamine 0.5% eyedrop or placebo. Both eyedrop bottles were randomly labeled. Eyedrops were self-administered by the patients, 4 times a day before the procedure (at 6 am, 12 noon, 6 pm, and 12 midnight) and every 15 min for 1 h (4 times) before the laser. Each patient was subjected to PRP using a Visulas 532s Zeiss device set to spot size 200 μm, time 0.10 s, and ∼600 burns in each eye. The pain score was evaluated immediately after treatment in each eye independently with Scott's visual analog scale (VAS) and the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ). VAS pain score in ketorolac-treated eyes (median 3.0, interquatile range [IQR] ±2.5) was lower than in placebo-treated eyes (median 5.0, IQR ±3.0). Total Pain Rate Index score from MPQ was lower in ketorolac-treated eyes (median 3.0, IQR ±3.0) than in placebo-treated eyes (median 3.0, IQR ±2.5). Both pain score differences are statistically significant with P ˂ 0.05. Topical ketorolac tromethamine 0.5% given pre-emptively a day before is effective in alleviating pain in patients undergoing PRP treatment.