Topical Anesthetic Abuse Keratopathy and its Clinical Progression

To report a case series with topical anesthetic abuse and to define the clinical progression of the disease. Six eyes of three topical anesthetic abuser patients with various corneal abnormalities are reviewed. Signs of the disease are presented in order to document the natural progression of the disease. A report was filed to the General Directorate of Pharmaceuticals and Pharmacy, Ministry of Health, Ankara, Turkey describing the outcome of uncontrolled use of topical anesthetic. Topical anesthetic abuse can result in serious corneal complications such as corneal epithelium defect, ring keratitis, stromal infiltrate, hypopyon, superficial and deep corneal vascularization, corneal lysis, and at last spontaneous perforation. The General Directorate of Pharmaceuticals and Pharmacy issued that topical anesthetics can only be prescribed by an ophthalmologist up to four boxes a month, the prescription must be kept for one, year and criminal action will be taken against pharmacies disregarding these provisions. (Turk J Ophthalmol 2013; 43: 289-93