Comparison of effects of mydriatic drops (1% cyclopentolate and 0.5% tropicamide) on anterior segment parameters

The purpose of this study is to investigate and compare the effects of cyclopentolate and tropicamide drops on anterior segment parameters in healthy individuals.

Two hundred and fifty-eight eyes of 129 healthy volunteers were included in this randomized clinical study. Cyclopentolate 1% drop was applied to 75 (58%) participants (group 1) and tropicamide 0.5% drop was applied to 54 (42%) participants (group 2). Flat keratometry (K1), steep keratometry (K2), axial length (AL), central corneal thickness (CCT), anterior chamber depth (ACD), white-to-white (WTW) distance, pupil diameter, total pupil offset and intraocular lens (IOL) power were measured before and after drops, using Lenstar 900 optical biometry.

The increase in CCT, ACD, pupil diameter, and pupil offset was significant in group 1 after the drop (P < 0.05), while the increase in ACD, pupil diameter, and pupil offset was significant in group 2 (P < 0.05). When the two groups were compared, there was no significant difference in K1, K2, CCT, ACD, WTW, pupil diameter, pupil offset, and IOL power (using Sanders-Retzlaff-Kraff T formula) changes after drops (P > 0.05), whereas the change in AL was significant (P = 0.01).

The effects of cyclopentolate and tropicamide drops on anterior segment parameters were similar; they did not make significant changes in K1, K2, AL, WTW, and third-generation IOL power calculation. However, ACD values significantly changed after these drops; thus, measuring anterior segment parameters before mydriatic agents should be taken into account particularly for fourth-generation IOL formulas and phakic IOL implantation. The change in pupil offset, which can be important in excimer laser and multifocal IOL applications, was not clinically significant.