# Brimonidine tartrate 0.15% drops to reduce low post-LASIK residual myopia: A retrospective study

## TL;DR

This study shows that brimonidine eye drops can reduce mild myopia left after LASIK surgery in about half of patients, especially older individuals with higher initial myopia.

## Contribution

The study identifies age, baseline myopia, and visual acuity as predictors for response to brimonidine in post-LASIK residual myopia.

## Key findings

- Brimonidine reduced up to 0.5D of residual myopia in 50% of patients.
- Older age and higher baseline myopia predicted better response to treatment.
- Lower uncorrected visual acuity was associated with treatment success.

## Abstract

Residual myopia following Laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) surgery poses a significant concern, with existing literature extensively detailing the use of timolol for treatment. This study aims to assess prediction factors for brimonidine tartrate 0.15% (Alphagan-P) response on post-LASIK residual myopic refraction reduction.

The study included consecutive patients who received Alphagan-P during their follow-up for post-LASIK residual myopia.

We included 61 patients (55% male) with a mean age of 35.18 ± 10.13 Alphagan-P Treatment started at a mean of 4.94 ± 5.64 months after surgery for residual myopia of −0.53 ± 0.71D. Comparison analysis of patients who responded (n = 32, 51.6%) to patients who did not (n = 30, 48.4%) shows that responders were older (38.1 ± 9.1 vs. 32.3 ± 10.3, p = 0.03), had higher baseline myopic Spherical equivalent (SE, −0.82 ± 0.65 vs. −0.26 ± 0.66 p < 0.01), and lower uncorrected visual acuity (Uncorrected visual acuity [UCVA], 0.14 ± 0.2 vs. −0.003 ± 0.12 p = 0.01). Multiple Binary logistic regression confirmed these predictors for response (UCVA (OR=70.6, P = .006), larger SE (OR=3.8, P = .004,) and older age (OR=1.06, P = .03)).

Alphagan-P can reduce up to 0.5D of post-LASIK residual myopia in roughly 50% of subjects. This treatment might be recommended to fine-tune outcomes for low residual myopia.