ABSTRACT
Aim: To study the effect of preservative free lidocaine on rabbit corneal endothelium.
Methods: 40 eyes of 20 rabbits were included in this study, the right eye of all the rabbits was injected with 0.02ml of preservative free lidocaine 1% while the left eye of all the rabbits was injected with 0.02ml of balanced salt solution BSS as a control. After one week 10 rabbits were sacrificed and 20 corneal buttons were stained with alizarin red and trypan blue and microscopically examined to compare morphologic differences between the right and left corneal buttons of each rabbit. The same procedure was done again with the remaining 10 rabbits after one month.
Results: Microscopic examination revealed no significant difference between the right corneal buttons(exposed to 0.02 preservative free lidocaine 1%) and the left corneal buttons(control) neither after one week nor after one month.
Conclusion: Preservative free lidocaine 1% injected intracameraly produced no morphologic changes to rabbit corneal endothelium.