Feb
06
How long the effect of pupil dilatation lasts in patients who have used the Atropine eye drops?
ByQuestion: My months old son had a check up at the eye clinic 4 days ago due to strabismus. The doctors there prescribed 1 drop each eye of Atropine the evening before the appointment and a last one 1.5 hrs before. His pupils are still very dilated. Do you know if this is normal? I haven`t been able to contact his eye doctor yet. Please give me an answer ASAP, I haven’t found anything in the web.
2 Comments
February 6th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Pupil dilation can last up to two weeks with atropine, but is somewhat dependent on the color of your child’s eyes and the strength of the atropine drop prescribed. It also depends on how much of the drop you got into your child’s eyes (not a very easy thing to do sometimes)
People with darker colored eyes have more pigment, which absorbs some of the atropine, and causes less atropine to get into the eye to actually dilate the pupil. Dilation effects last longer in people with light blue eyes.
Hope you can get a hold of his eye doctor. It might help to keep him out of direct sunlight (ie wear a hat) as his eyes are probably still light sensitive. The light won’t damage his eyes but he may be more comfortable keeping them closed or in the shade.
February 6th, 2010 at 7:09 pm
Normally it will take 12-14 days for the pupil to return to normal.
So I would not be concerned after just 4 days that his pupils are still dilated.
Dominic
optometrist (retired)