Context: The topical use of anesthetic solutions is usually associated with toxic effects on the corneal epithelium. On the other hand, their use has been proposed for some situations, especially after photorefractive keratectomy a procedure that involves corneal scraping and has a very painful postoperative period. Purpose: To evaluate the influence of the topical use of proparacaine (0.05% and 0.5%) and phosphate buffer on the epithelial healing of corneal central wounds. Methods: A central epithelial corneal wound of a 6.0 mm diameter was performed in rabbits. Proparacaine and buffer were instilled every 30 minutes for 12 hours a day for 2 days. Epithelial regeneration was assessed through sequential photographs of the defective area stained with sodium fluorescein and the quantification of this area was performed using a computerized image analyzer. Results: There were no statistical differences in the corneal healing between the compared groups during the study. Proparacaine in those concentrations didn't induce histo-pathological abnormalities such as discontinuity of the epithelium, disorganization of collagen layers or polymor-phonuclear infiltration (the stromic edema and the limbic inflammatory infiltrates were not important). Conclusion: Topical use of proparacaine didn't delay reepi-thelialization of the defective area and was not responsible for important histopathological abnormalites.
Proparacaine; Corneal wound healing
