Vitrase effective as anesthetic block, study finds

A highly purified preparation of ovine hyaluronidase results in a “highly effective” anesthetic block when injected in combination with other drugs before ophthalmic surgery, according to a study.

Eric D. Donnenfeld, MD, and colleagues studied 108 patients who received Vitrase (ovine hyaluronidase, Ista) as an adjuvant to anesthesia before ocular surgery. The mean patient age was 68 years; 83% of patients were white. Patients were given a second dose from the same anesthetic/Vitrase combination if surgically warranted.

At entry, 105 patients reported no ocular pain and three patients had a minimal ocular pain score of 2. The median time from first injection to incision was 15.5 minutes.

After the combined injection, 95.4% of patients experienced no ocular pain. No deaths, serious or significant adverse events were reported. Two adverse events — posterior capsule rupture and conjunctival hemorrhage — were considered not likely to be related to the use of Vitrase. Ten percent of the patients recovered with full ocular movement within 69 minutes after injection.

The study was presented as a poster at the Ophthalmic Anesthesia Society meeting earlier this month.