Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Does proparacaine help with corneal ulcers in dogs, cats, and horses?
By Edwards, Sydney G et al.·Published in Veterinary ophthalmology·2019·Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Effect of topical application of 0.5% proparacaine on corneal culture results from 33 dogs, 12 cats, and 19 horses with spontaneously arising ulcerative keratitis.
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A group of 33 dogs, 12 cats, and 19 horses with eye ulcers were tested to see if a topical anesthetic called proparacaine would change the results of bacterial and fungal cultures taken from their eyes. The study found that using proparacaine did not significantly affect the number of bacteria or fungi detected compared to using a saline solution. Both culture and cytology (microscopic examination of cells) were important for identifying infections, as cultures found more bacteria than cytology alone. The findings suggest that while proparacaine is safe to use, further research is needed to understand its clinical impact.
People also search for: dog eye ulcer treatment · cat eye infection symptoms · horse corneal ulcer care
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of topically applied proparacaine on bacterial and fungal culture results and to compare cytologic and culture results in patients with ulcerative keratitis. PROCEDURE: Corneal samples were collected from 33 dogs, 19 horses, and 12 cats with spontaneously arising ulcerative keratitis. Samples for bacterial (dogs, cats, horses) and fungal (horses) cultures were collected prior to and following application of 0.5% proparacaine or saline. All patients then received a topical anesthetic, and samples were collected for cytology. Frequency of cultivatable bacteria before (Swab 1) and after (Swab 2) application of proparacaine or saline was compared using Fisher's exact test. Homogeneity of culture and cytology results was assessed using McNemar's test. RESULTS: No difference was detected in number of animals from which bacteria were isolated from Swab 1 or Swab 2 for proparacaine (21/37 and 17/37, respectively) or saline (10/27 and 12/27, respectively). Small numbers prevented analysis of fungal culture results in horses between Swab 1 and Swab 2 for proparacaine (2/12 and 1/12, respectively) or saline (both, 1/8). Bacteria were isolated from 10 of 20 horses and detected cytologically in 3 of these; fungi were isolated from 3 of 20 horses and detected cytologically in 2 of these. Bacteria were detected more frequently using culture (31/64) than cytology (19/64). CONCLUSION: Proparacaine did not significantly alter bacterial or fungal culture results in cats, dogs, or horses; however, clinical significance warrants investigation. Culture and cytology provided complementary data; both should be performed to maximize organism detection in patients with ulcerative keratitis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30193404/