Prednisolone Acetate Eye Drops for Pain Intervention in Second Eye Cataract Surgery

A Randomized Controlled Study of Prednisolone Acetate Eye Drops for Pain Intervention in Second Eye Cataract Surgery

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and potential mechanisms of prednisolone acetate eye drops for pain management in patients undergoing second-eye surgery for age-related cataracts.

Researchers will compare prednisolone acetate eye drops to sodium hyaluronate eye drops to see if prednisolone acetate eye drops work to relieve intraoperative and postoperative pain during second-eye cataract surgery.

Participants will:

1. Receive prednisolone acetate eye drops or sodium hyaluronate eye drop four drops within 2 hours before cataract surgery
2. Finish cataract surgery and routine postoperative follow-up
3. Pain questionnaire completed after cataract surgery

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age between 50-80 years old;
• A clear diagnosis of age-related cataract, having completed the first eye cataract surgery at our hospital, and planning to have the second eye cataract surgery with the same doctor;
• The interval between the two surgeries is ≤30 days;
• Capable of cooperating to complete iris optical coherence tomography angiography examination;
• Based on our team's previous research, a predictive scoring formula for pain during the second eye surgery has been derived (Predicted score = 1.36 + 4.93 * preoperative iris vessel area density - 0.24 * surgical interval (weeks)), and the calculated predicted score is >2.

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of ocular trauma, ocular surgery, uveitis, fundus disease, glaucoma, or recent history of episcleritis, keratitis, severe dry eye, and other ocular surface disease episodes;
• Participation in intraocular or systemic medication clinical trials within the past 6 months;
• Having an autoimmune disease or currently undergoing immunosuppressive therapy;
• Having a psychiatric disorder such as anxiety or depression;
• History of using glucocorticoid eye drops for treatment in the second eye within the past month;
• Long-term use of drugs that can cause intraoperative floppy iris syndrome, such as alpha-blockers;
• Severe complications occurred during or after the first eye surgery (e.g., posterior capsule rupture, zonular exercise, nuclear drop into the vitreous cavity, postoperative endophthalmitis, glaucoma, etc.).