Purpose: To evaluate the analgesic effect of ketorolac 0.5% drops during the intravitreal injection procedure.
Methods: Thirty patients (n=30) received topical ketorolac 0.5% or vehicle on subsequent intravitreal drug administrations. The procedure followed for the intravitreal injections was the same for all subsequent administrations with the use of tetracaine 0.5% drops as anesthetic. Ketorolac or vehicle was instilled before the injection, and pain perception was recorded on a 0 to 100 Visual Analog Scale (VAS) immediately after the intravitreal administration.
Results: Mean VAS pain score was 8.16±1.3 when patients received ketorolac and 12.33±1.41 when they received placebo, a difference that was statistically significant (P=0.0003) (paired t-test).
Conclusions: Topical ketorolac 0.5% reduces patients' pain perception during intravitreal drug administration.