Effect of Carteolol on Intraocular Pressure Elevation Following Laser Iridotomy

Abstract

With the advent of laser application in ophthalmology, iridotomy has become a well-accepted routine procedure for angle closure glaucoma. However, spike elevation of intraocular pressure (IOP) after laser procedure, especially in those severely compromised eyes, remains to be overcome by laser surgeons. In the past year, argon and Nd-YAG laser iridotomy was performed on 434 eyes of 274 patients with primary angle closure glaucoma. The patients were divided into four groups to evaluate the hypotensive effect of carteolol. Group I was pretreated with pilocarpine, Group II with pilocarpine and acetazolamide, Group III with pilocarpine and carteolol, and Group IV with pilocarpine, acetazolamide, and carteolol. In the group treated with carteolol and acetazolamide, the post-laser IOP elevation is significantly less than in the other groups. The difference is especially significant for the Nd-YAG laser group. The 2-hour postlaser IOP elevation is positively correlated with the prelaser IOP, while no such correlation is found between the postlaser IOP elevation and laser energy used.