Tamsulosin and the Intraoperative Floppy Iris Syndrome
- Alan H. Friedman, MD
- Author Affiliations: Departments of Ophthalmology and Pathology, The Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York.
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- ADRENERGIC ALPHA-ANTAGONISTS
- AGING
- CATARACT EXTRACTION
- DRUG REACTION, ADVERSE
- INTRAOPERATIVE COMPLICATIONS
- IRIS
- TAMSULOSIN
The intraoperative floppy iris syndrome (IFIS) was first described by Chang and Campbell in 2005.1 These authors1 and others2 observed that there was a tendency for poor pupillary dilation and the intraoperative triad of the billowing of a flaccid iris, the propensity for iris prolapse, and progressive intraoperative pupillary constriction. In the current technique ophthalmologists perform cataract surgery through a 2.5-mm incision. A widely dilated pupil is essential for complication-free surgery. Billowing of the iris into the surgical field and poor pupillary constriction are potentially catastrophic barriers to successful surgery. Intraoperative floppy iris syndrome is encountered mainly in cataract surgery and in prospective studies has been found to occur in 2% to 3% of all cataract operations and to a lesser extent in glaucoma surgery.3
The strong association of IFIS with systemic (oral) administration of the α1a- selective adrenergic antagonist tamsulosin, the commonly prescribed …
