|
|
ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
|
Year : 2016 | Volume
: 57
| Issue : 3 | Page : 173-177 |
|
|
Cycloplegic effect of atropine compared with cyclopentolate-tropicamide combination in children with hypermetropia
Rabi Yahaya Sani1, Sadiq Hassan1, Saudat Garba Habib1, Ebisike Philips Ifeanyichukwu2
1 Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Bayero University/Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria 2 Department of Ophthalmology, Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria
Date of Web Publication | 15-Jun-2016 |
Correspondence Address: Sadiq Hassan Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Bayero University/Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano Nigeria
Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0300-1652.184065
Abstract | | |
Background: Cycloplegic refraction is important in assessing children with hypermetropia. Atropine, though the gold standard cycloplegic agent for refraction in children, has a long duration of action and more severe side effects compared to short-acting cycloplegic agents. The aim of the study was to compare the cycloplegic effect of atropine with cyclopentolate and tropicamide combination in children with hypermetropia. Subjects and Methods: This was a crossover interventional study in children with hypermetropia. Cycloplegic refraction using two separate regimens of cycloplegic drugs was done on all subjects. Data were analyzed using the statistical software SPSS version 22.0. The mean spherical equivalent values of regimen 1 (atropine 1%) and regimen 2 (cyclopentolate 1% and tropicamide 1%) were presented as mean and standard deviation. A P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: One hundred and twenty-six eyes of 63 subjects aged 5-12 years were examined. The mean spherical equivalent values for regimen 1 and regimen 2 for the right eyes were 4.73 ± 2.1 DS and 4.54 ± 1.9 DS, respectively (P = 0.59). The mean spherical equivalent values for regimens 1 and 2 for the left eyes were 4.74 ± 2.0 DS and 4.54 ± 1.8 DS, respectively (P = 0.56). Conclusion: The combination of 1% cyclopentolate and 1% tropicamide could be a useful alternative to atropine 1% for cycloplegic refraction in children with hypermetropia. Keywords: Atropine, cyclopentolate, cycloplegic refraction, hypermetropia, tropicamide
How to cite this article: Sani RY, Hassan S, Habib SG, Ifeanyichukwu EP. Cycloplegic effect of atropine compared with cyclopentolate-tropicamide combination in children with hypermetropia. Niger Med J 2016;57:173-7 |
How to cite this URL: Sani RY, Hassan S, Habib SG, Ifeanyichukwu EP. Cycloplegic effect of atropine compared with cyclopentolate-tropicamide combination in children with hypermetropia. Niger Med J [serial online] 2016 [cited 2024 Mar 28];57:173-7. Available from: https://www.nigeriamedj.com/text.asp?2016/57/3/173/184065 |
Introduction | | |
Cycloplegic refraction is important in assessing patients with decreased vision or ocular deviation. Hypermetropia is a refractive error that causes decreased vision in children. This condition is associated with reading disabilities, learning difficulties, low intelligence, and slow development of visual perceptual skills in children. [1] Cycloplegic refraction is necessary in children because of their high amplitude of accommodation and inability to give reliable subjective responses. [2]
Cycloplegia is the paralysis of the ciliary muscle of the eye resulting in dilatation of the pupil and paralysis of accommodation. This can be achieved by instilling cycloplegic agents such as atropine, cyclopentolate, and tropicamide into the conjunctival sac. [3]
Atropine is an organic compound derived from tropic acid and tropine. Atropine is the most potent of the cycloplegic agents and has a slow onset of effect with duration of action lasting up to 2 weeks. Preparations are available in 0.5% or 1% eye drops or eye ointment. Adverse effects may be ocular or systemic. These include allergic contact dermatitis of the lids, allergic conjunctivitis, keratitis, and increase in intraocular pressure. [4] Systemic side effects include dryness of secretions, fever, irritability, tachycardia, convulsions, and possibly death. [2],[4]
Cyclopentolate is a synthetic antimuscarinic cycloplegic agent with an onset of action of 30-45 min and duration of action of 24 h. Preparations are available in 0.5% and 1% solutions. Ocular side effects may include irritation, lacrimation, allergic blepharoconjunctivitis, conjunctival hyperemia, and increase in intraocular pressure. Systemic side effects include drowsiness, ataxia, disorientation, incoherent speech, restlessness, and visual hallucinations. [4],[5]
Tropicamide is a synthetic analog of tropic acid. The onset of action is 15-30 min and lasts 4-6 h. It is available in 0.5% and 1% solutions. Ocular side effects include stinging sensation in the eye, corneal irritation, and increase in intraocular pressure. [4],[5] Systemic side effects include dry mucous membranes, flushing, and tachycardia. [6] Having mentioned the cycloplegic agents above and their characteristics, notwithstanding, an ideal cycloplegic agent should have a rapid onset of action, complete cycloplegic effect, quick reversal of cycloplegic effect, and absence of ocular and systemic side effects. [7]
The aim of the study was to compare for the purpose of refraction, the cycloplegic effect of atropine with cyclopentolate and tropicamide combination in children with hypermetropia. This would ascertain if tropicamide and cyclopentolate, which have shorter duration of action and less severe adverse effects, could be used instead of atropine, a drug with a long duration of action and more severe adverse effects. [2],[4],[5],[6]
Subjects and methods | | |
The study adhered to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Review Board of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria. This crossover interventional study was carried out from November 2014 to March 2015. Sixty-three subjects took part in the study. Consent was obtained from parents of subjects. Criteria for inclusion were children aged between 5 and 12 years with hypermetropia of at least 1 D in each eye. Children outside this age range, those with other refractive errors or other eye diseases and history of cardiovascular disease were excluded from the study. Subjects with a history suggestive of allergy to atropine, cyclopentolate, or tropicamide were also excluded from the study.
All subjects had routine ophthalmic evaluation and cycloplegic refraction. Two separate regimens of cycloplegic drugs were used for all subjects. These were instilled into the conjunctival sac of the subjects.
Regimen 1 comprised instillation of one drop of 1% atropine twice daily for 3 days before and on the day of refraction. Regimen 2 comprised instillation of 1% cyclopentolate and 1% tropicamide. Cyclopentolate (1%) was instilled twice at 5 min intervals followed by tropicamide (1%) also instilled twice at 5 min intervals.
Refraction was done 30 min after instillation of the last drop of tropicamide. For both regimens, cycloplegic effect of the drugs was noted when the pupils did not react to light and were fully dilated and when retinoscopic reflex did not fluctuate. [4] Each of the subjects had both regimens of the cycloplegic drugs. However, there was a 5-week interval between regimen 1 and regimen 2 to allow for the cycloplegic effect of atropine to wear off. The refraction was carried out in a dark room using a Keeler retinoscope and at a working distance of 66 cm (equivalent to 1.5 D). A single refractionist carried out all refraction procedures. The results of the refraction were converted to the spherical equivalent of the values obtained. This was done by calculating the sphere plus half of the cylinder. [8] Parents of the subjects were informed about possible postinstillation side effects of the drugs and were told to present to the hospital immediately should any of these be observed.
Data analysis
Data were analyzed using the statistical software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0, International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, New York, United States of America. The mean spherical equivalent values of atropine (regimen 1) and tropicamide with cyclopentolate combination (regimen 2) were presented as a mean and standard deviation. A P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results | | |
A total of 63 subjects participated in the study. One hundred and twenty-six eyes of these were examined. There were 26 females and 37 males (male: female = 1.4:1). [Table 1] gives a summary of the sex distribution of the subjects.
Their ages ranged from 5 to 12 years with a mean age of 8.23 ± 1.88 years.
The cycloplegic refraction procedures using atropine 1% (regimen 1) and tropicamide 1%-cyclopentolate 1% combination (regimen 2) were recorded. [Table 2] shows the spherical equivalent values of these procedures done on all subjects using both regimens. | Table 2: Spherical equivalent values of refraction procedures in all subjects
Click here to view |
The mean spherical equivalent values for regimen 1 and regimen 2 for the right eyes were 4.73 ± 2.1 D and 4.54 ± 1.9 D, respectively (P = 0.59). [Table 3] compares the mean spherical equivalent values of regimen 1 and regimen 2 for the right and left eyes. | Table 3: Mean spherical equivalent values of atropine 1% and tropicamide 1% and cyclopentolate 1% combination in the right and left eyes
Click here to view |
Discussion | | |
Atropine, being the gold standard cycloplegic agent used in children for refraction, has severe side effects and a long duration of action. [9] This study compared the cycloplegic effect of atropine with tropicamide-cyclopentolate combination.
The two drug regimens were used on the same study subjects. There were more males than females in this study. This could be because more male children have access to education in this community than female children. [10]
There was no statistically significant difference in the mean spherical equivalent values for both eyes using the two drug regimens. This is in keeping with a similar study where only 1% cyclopentolate was the drug used in one regimen to compare with the cycloplegic effect of 1% atropine. The difference between the mean values of the total refractions of the two drug regimens was statistically insignificant. The two drug regimens were seen to have a striking similarity even in children with a high degree of hypermetropia. Cyclopentolate was found to provide cycloplegia similar to atropine. [2] Another study compared the cycloplegic effectiveness of cyclopentolate and tropicamide with atropine. It was found that the cycloplegic effectiveness of cyclopentolate was close to that of atropine. [11] The findings of this study support other studies which have shown that atropine can be replaced with cyclopentolate either alone or in combination with other short-acting cycloplegic agents to achieve effective cycloplegia in children. [9],[12],[13],[14],[15]
There are known side effects associated with cycloplegic agents. Reported cases of systemic side effects of these include acute midbrain hemorrhage, ataxia, restlessness, hallucinations, seizures, fever, dryness of the mouth and skin, tachycardia, delirium, and death. [16],[17],[18] Our study did not record any adverse effects. This may be due to the age range of our study population. Toxic effects of cycloplegic agents occur more in younger children. [18],[19],[20]
The results of this study are of great relevance clinically. The use of atropine to achieve cycloplegia is usually started by parents at home. This may not be favorable as compliance may not be adequate and complete cycloplegia may not be achieved. Another disadvantage of atropine is its long duration of action and possible toxic effects. Our results suggest that the use of atropine can be replaced with tropicamide and cyclopentolate for cycloplegic refraction with comparable cycloplegic effects. Second, these two drugs are short acting with benefits of complete reversal of cycloplegic effects within hours. [21]
On the whole, evidence suggests that atropine, though the gold standard cycloplegic agent for refraction in children, can be replaced by cyclopentolate alone or in combination of with other short-acting cycloplegic agents to achieve effective cycloplegia in children with hypermetropia. [9],[12],[13],[14],[15] The combination of cycloplegic agents used in this study is therefore recommended for the use in refraction by eye care providers to achieve effective cycloplegia in children with hypermetropia.
Future studies should include younger children because they have a higher amplitude of accommodation. This may further establish the similar effectiveness of atropine in comparison with other short-acting cycloplegic agents for refraction in children, thereby further strengthening available evidence.
A limitation of this study is that the subjects were children aged 5-12 years. If younger children were included in the study, the results may have been more reliable because they have a higher amplitude of accommodation.
Conclusion | | |
This study has shown that the combination of 1% tropicamide and 1% cyclopentolate can give results of cycloplegia comparable to 1% atropine with benefits of less severe side effects and a shorter duration of action of the drugs.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
References | | |
1. | Rosenfield M. Refractive status of the eye. In: Borish's Clinical Refraction. 1 st ed. Pennsylvania: W.B. Saunders Company; 1998. p. 2-29. |
2. | Farhood QK. Cycloplegic refraction in children with cyclopentolate versus atropine. J Clin Exp Ophthalmol 2012;3:7. |
3. | Abrams D. Anomalies of accommodation. In: Duke-Elders Practice of Refraction. 10 th ed. United Kingdom: Churchill Livingstone; 1993. p. 99. |
4. | Eperjesi F, Jones K. Cycloplegic refraction in optometric practice. Optom Pract 2005;6:107-20. |
5. | Ihekaire DE. The comparative efficacy of cycloplegic drugs- tropicamide and cyclopentolate on school children. Int J Sci Res Educ 2012;5:223-46. |
6. | Blaho KE, Connor CG, Winbery SL. Pharmacology and refraction. In: Borish's Clinical Refraction. 1 st ed. Pennsylvania: W.B. Saunders Company; 1998. p. 369-407. |
7. | Pi L, Zhao J, Liu Q, Chen L, Fang J, Ke N, et al. Comparison of cycloplegic retinoscopy using cyclopentolate or tropicamide eye drops in an epidemiologic study of paediatric refraction among 1907 school aged children. Sci Res Essays 2011;6:635-40. |
8. | Elkington AR, Frank HJ. Clinical Optics. 3 rd ed. United Kingdom: Blackwell Science; 1999. p. 71. |
9. | Ebri A, Kuper H, Wedner S. Cost-effectiveness of cycloplegic agents: Results of a randomized controlled trial in Nigerian children. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2007;48:1025-31. |
10. | Humphreys S, Crawfurd L. Review of the Literature on Basic Education in Nigeria. Issues of Access, Quality, Equity and Impact. Available from: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name = review-of-the-literature-on-basic-education-in-nigeria.pdf and site = 320. [Last accessed 2015 Nov 14]. |
11. | Proskurina OV. Cycloplegic effectiveness of cyclopentolate and tropicamide preparations compared with atropinization. Vestn Oftalmol 2002;118:42-5. [ PUBMED] |
12. | Ka AM, De Medeiros ME, Sow AS, Ndiaye PA, Weladji C, Diallo HM, et al. Objective refraction in black children: Cyclopentolate and tropicamide combination, a reliable alternative to atropine? J Fr Ophtalmol 2014;37:689-94. |
13. | Celebi S, Aykan U. The comparison of cyclopentolate and atropine in patients with refractive accommodative esotropia by means of retinoscopy, autorefractometry and biometric lens thickness. Acta Ophthalmol Scand 1999;77:426-9. |
14. | Zetterström C. A cross-over study of the cycloplegic effects of a single topical application of cyclopentolate-phenylephrine and routine atropinization for 3.5 days. Acta Ophthalmol (Copenh) 1985;63:525-9. |
15. | Alimgil ML, Erda N. The cycloplegic effect of atropine in comparison with the cyclopentolate-tropicamide-phenylephrine combination. Klin Monbl Augenheilkd 1992;201:9-11. |
16. | Calisaneller T, Ozdemir O, Sonmez E, Altinors N. Acute progressive midbrain hemorrhage after topical ocular cyclopentolate administration. Neurol India 2008;56:88-9. [ PUBMED] |
17. | Pooniya V, Pandey N. Systemic toxicity of topical cyclopentolate eyedrops in a child. Eye (Lond) 2012;26:1391-2. [ PUBMED] |
18. | Myers TM, Wallace DK, Johnson SM. Ophthalmic medications in pediatric patients. Compr Ophthalmol Update 2005;6:85-101. |
19. | Demayo AP, Reidenberg MM. Grand mal seizure in a child 30 minutes after cyclogyl (cyclopentolate hydrochloride) and 10% Neo-Synephrine (phenylephrine hydrochloride) eye drops were instilled. Pediatrics 2004;113:e499-500. |
20. | Wygnanski-Jaffe T, Nucci P, Goldchmit M, Mezer E. Epileptic seizures induced by cycloplegic eye drops. Cutan Ocul Toxicol 2014;33:103-8. |
21. | Apt L, Gaffney WL. Cycloplegic refraction. In: Duane's Ophthalmology on CD-ROM 2006 th ed., Vol. 1, Ch. 41. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 2006. |
[Table 1], [Table 2], [Table 3]
This article has been cited by | 1 |
Tropicamide Versus Cyclopentolate for Cycloplegic Refraction in Pediatric Patients With Brown Irides: A Randomized Clinical Trial |
|
| Wejdan Al-Thawabieh, Rami Al-Omari, Diala Walid Abu-Hassan, Mohammad T. Abuawwad, Abdullah Al-awadhi, Hashem Abu Serhan | | American Journal of Ophthalmology. 2024; 257: 218 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | 2 |
Effect of cycloplegic agents (1% cyclopentolate hydrochloride and 1% tropicamide) on anterior segment parameters |
|
| Mustafa Duran, Selim Cevher | | Therapeutic Advances in Ophthalmology. 2023; 15 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | 3 |
Pharmacologic Mydriasis and Cycloplegia: A Review of Novel Delivery Devices |
|
| Jalin A Jordan, Julius T Oatts | | touchREVIEWS in Ophthalmology. 2023; 17(2): 1 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | 4 |
Comparison of cycloplegia with atropine 1% versus cyclopentolate 1% |
|
| Ram P Singh, Abadan K Amitava, Nikita Sharma, Yogesh Gupta, Syed A Raza, Aparna Bose, Ganga S Meena | | Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. 2023; 71(12): 3633 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | 5 |
Clinical Profile, Neuroimaging Characteristics, and Surgical Outcomes of Patients With Acute Acquired Non-accommodative Comitant Esotropia |
|
| Jenil Sheth, Ashima Goyal, Divya Natarajan, Vivek U. Warkad, Virender Sachdeva, Ramesh Kekunnaya | | Journal of Pediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus. 2022; : 1 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | 6 |
Comparison of Cycloplegic Refraction Versus Dynamic Retinoscopy in Children from 5 to 12 Years of Age |
|
| Sharmeen Shahid, Maimoona Rehmat, Amna Mahmood , Erum Farooq, Shanza Dastgir | | Pakistan Journal of Health Sciences. 2022; : 146 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | 7 |
Host-guest complexation of cucurbit [7]uril and cucurbit [8]uril with the antimuscarinic drugs tropicamide and atropine |
|
| Valya Nikolova, Stefan Dobrev, Nikoleta Kircheva, Victoria Yordanova, Todor Dudev, Silvia Angelova | | Journal of Molecular Graphics and Modelling. 2022; : 108380 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | 8 |
Systematic review and meta-analysis on the agreement of non-cycloplegic and cycloplegic refraction in children |
|
| Salma Wilson, Irene Ctori, Rakhee Shah, Catherine Suttle, Miriam L. Conway | | Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. 2022; | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | 9 |
Accommodative spasm and its different treatment approaches: A systematic review |
|
| Prithwis Manna, Sourav Karmakar, Gaurav Kumar Bhardwaj, Animesh Mondal | | European Journal of Ophthalmology. 2022; : 1120672122 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | 10 |
The Effect of Cyclopentolate on Ocular Biometric Components |
|
| Hassan Hashemi,Amir Asharlous,Mehdi Khabazkhoob,Rafael Iribarren,Ahmad Khosravi,Abbasali Yekta,Mohammad Hassan Emamian,Akbar Fotouhi | | Optometry and Vision Science. 2020; 97(6): 440 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | 11 |
Cycloplegic Effect of 1% Atropine Compared to 1% Cyclopentolate - 1% Tropicamide Combination in Children |
|
| Abimbola Ayadi,DupeS Ademola-Popoola,F.O. Olatunji | | Nigerian Journal of Ophthalmology. 2020; 28(2): 70 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | 12 |
Tropicamide has limited clinical effect on cycloplegia and mydriasis when combined with cyclopentolate and phenylephrine |
|
| Alain E. Sherman,Melissa M. Shaw,Hantamalala Ralay-Ranaivo,Bahram Rahmani | | Journal of American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. 2019; | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | 13 |
Incidence of side effects of topical atropine sulfate and cyclopentolate hydrochloride for cycloplegia in Japanese children: a multicenter study |
|
| Akemi Wakayama,Sachiko Nishina,Atsushi Miki,Takashi Utsumi,Jun Sugasawa,Takao Hayashi,Miho Sato,Akiko Kimura,Takashi Fujikado | | Japanese Journal of Ophthalmology. 2018; | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | 14 |
Comparison of cyclopentolate versus tropicamide cycloplegia: A systematic review and meta-analysis |
|
| Negareh Yazdani,Ramin Sadeghi,Hamed Momeni-Moghaddam,Leili Zarifmahmoudi,Asieh Ehsaei | | Journal of Optometry. 2017; | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | |
|
|
|
|