LETTER
Anaesthetic eye drops for children in casualty departments across south east England
Department of Ophthalmology, Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother Hospital, Margate, Kent; m.vishwanath@virgin.net
Accepted 27 May 2004
Keywords: A&E; children; discomfort; proxymetacaine
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
It is a common practice to use topical anaesthetic drops to provide temporary relief and aid in the examination of the eyes when strong blepharospasm precludes thorough examination. Ophthalmology departments usually have several types of these—for example, amethocaine, oxybuprocaine (benoxinate), and proxymetacaine. The duration and degree of discomfort caused by amethocaine is significantly higher than proxymetacaine,1,2 whilst the difference in the discomfort between amethocaine and oxybuprocaine is minimal.2 When dealing with children, therefore, it is recommended to use proxymetacaine drops.1
It was my experience that Accident & Emergency (A&E) departments tend to have less choice of these drops. This survey was done to find out the availability of different anaesthetic drops, and the preference for paediatric use given a choice of the above three. Questionnaires were sent to 40 A&E departments across south east England. Thirty nine replied back, of which one department did not see any eye casualties. None
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