Comparison of mydriatic effect and irritative symptoms between mydriatic drug-soaked sponge packing and conventional instillation

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the pupil diameter and irritative symptom by the using of mydriatic drug-soaked sponge packing versus conventional instillation technique in the patients who need fundus examination.
Methods: With 40 patients, were dilated pupils by applying mydriatic drug-soaked sponge in one eye and using conventional technique in another eye. The soaked sponge were packed for 20 mins, pupils’diameter was checked every 10 mins for 3 times, and recorded irritative symptom in 30 mins.
Results: The mean pupil diameter after mydriatic drugs applying at 10, 20 and 30 minutes were 3.2 ± 1.0, 5.5 ± 1.3 and 7.0 ± 1.1 mm. by drug soaked sponge technique versus 3.2 ± 0.8, 5.4 ± 1.1 and 6.5 ± 1.0 mm by conventional technique respectively (p=0.661, 0.682, 0.974). The irritative symptom score was 4.9 ± 2.6 in mydriatic drug soaked sponge group and 3.0 ± 2.4 in conventional group (p=0.0006).
Conclusion: The mydriatic drug soaked sponge technique can provide a similar mydriatic effect to the conventional instillation technique. The sponge technique uses less number of staff and their effort. However this technique can cause significant irritation or foreign body sensation in some patients.
Conflicts of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest.