Why Dilation Reversal Drops Are Not Currently an Option
Getting your eyes dilated can be inconvenient – dilation makes your eyes light sensitive, which can make it difficult to read books or use phones and computers for a few 4 hours.
So wouldn’t it be great to have another drop to reverse the effects of dilation?
On Dec. 31, 1990, dapiprazole, under the trade name Rev-Eyes, was approved by the FDA and thought to be the answer to all the post-dilation problems. It was marketed for treatment of medically-induced dilation by stimulating pupillary constriction and restoration of accommodative function for reading.
In clinical practice, dapiprazole took between one to two hours to return pupils to pre-dilation size.
Side effects such as stinging upon instillation, conjunctival hyperemia (redness of eye), headache, and a few instances of ptosis (lid drooping), with a possible additional dollar cost to patients, seemed to lessen dapiprazole’s overall clinical benefit.
Reading ability returned in approximately 43 minutes with dapiprazole vs 66 minutes without the drop (Optom Vis Sci 1994 May; 71(5):319-22). The main complaint that people had after using dapiprazole was the […]