ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of tramadol for controlling post-operative ocular pain from laser assisted subepithelial keratomileusis (LASEK). METHODS: A randomized and controlled study was used. Tramadol tablet is taken orally two times a day plus Tobradex and Diclofenac sodium eyedrops were administered four times a day to the study group and Tobradex and Diclofenac sodium eyedrops only were administered four times a day to the control group. Slitlamp biomicroscopy and clinical scoring (0 to 4) were used to assess pain, photophobia, tearing, stinging-burning (0 = no pain; 1 = mild pain; 2 = moderate pain; 3 = severes pain; 4 = very severe pain). The assessments were made at anterioroperation, 1 day, 4 days,7 days postoperatively. RESULTS: Post-operative pain cores for the study group and the control group were 0.48 +/- 0.67 and 1.70 +/- 0.69 (P < 0.001) at 1 day, 0.18 +/- 0.39 and 0.65 +/- 0.55 (P < 0.05) at 4 days, respectively. No severe complications were found in either group. CONCLUSION: tramadol plays an important role in efficacy and safety for controlling ocular pain and inflammation after LASEK.
