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Corneal abrasions typically are short-lived but intensely painful, and emergency department (ED) patients often request prescriptions for anesthetic eye drops. In a prospective, randomized controlled study, investigators assessed the safety and efficacy of outpatient treatment with dilute (0.05%; usual ED concentration is 0.5%) proparacaine drops in a convenience sample of 41 adults with corneal abrasions who presented to two EDs in Ontario, Canada. Fifteen patients randomized to proparacaine and 18 randomized to placebo (mean age, 39; 85% men) completed the study.
Patients in the proparacaine group reported significantly greater reduction in pain than those in the placebo group (median reduction, 3.9 cm vs. 0.6 cm on a 10-cm visual analog s…