Abstract
— Several concentrations of carbocaine hydrochloride, a local anaesthetic, were applied to isolated porcine corneas and stromas for periods of 1, 2, 3 and 4 hours. Increases in opacity (manifested as decreases in the intensity of a beam of light passed through the cornea from the epithelium to the endothelium), hydration (determined by the loss of water on drying to constant weight), and thickness (measured with a micrometer screw gauge) were determined. Small, time-related increases in opacity, associated with increases in hydration and thickness, were observed in control preparations and in preparations treated with 0.5–2% carbocaine hydrochloride over a 4-hour incubation period. However, only those increases resulting from incubation for 4 hours with 2% carbocaine hydrochloride differed significantly from control values. Higher concentrations (8% and 16%) also caused opacity, but decreased hydration and thickness, probably because of the hypertonicity of these solutions.
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