evaluation effect of phenytoin eye drop 1% on corneal alkaline burns in a rabbit model

purpose: to evaluate the effect of topical phenytoin 1 % on corneal epithelial defects healing in a rabbit model. methods: one eye of 20 albino rabbits in the animal house of al-zahra ophthalmology hospital was studied. a single corneal epithelial defect was created. the rabbits were randomly assigned into two groups (ten animals in each group). after creating a chemical burn in rabbits, one group was treated by soluble phenytoin 1% eye drops and the other group with normal saline eye drops. daily examination was performed to determine the maximum diameter of corneal epithelial defects during 14 days. data was analyzed using statistical tests including independent t test and anova on repeated observations. results: the difference between the first and the last day of follow up in each group was significant (p<0.05). topical phenytoin 1%, as compared with the control group, significantly improved epithelial defect healing (p conclusion: topical phenytoin 1% as a supplement treatment can help in the improvement of epithelial defect caused by alkaline burns.