Atropine is a treatment for myopia control, but do combination treatments such as with orthokeratology increase the efficacy? Learn about how well it works, which concentration, for whom it works best, side effects, treatment duration and more.
Atropine has been the apparent hero of myopia management since the 2006 ATOM1 study, and since then, low concentration 0.01% atropine has become the new hero and then fallen out of favour. This article describes how lower concentrations work to balance efficacy and side effects, which should we select now, and what newer research on formulations and combinations can tell us.
Atropine can be used for myopia control as a monotherapy or as an adjunct to an optical intervention – we discuss patient selection, atropine combination treatments, how to taper and when to stop.
Most atropine currently prescribed for myopia control is compounded. How could this influence consistency of treatment and research results? What could current research lead to in future prescribing? Read more here.
As there are systemic side effects of atropine eye drops, they could be contraindicated in young patients with some conditions, syndromes, and when taking specific systemic medications. Medication safety is also discussed.
Atropine for the treatment of childhood myopia has in recent times been more extensively researched through the ATOM trials with the latest update released on August 11,2015. The first paper in a series of three so far was published in 2006.
