Mannitol Infusion to Reduce Intraocular Pressure

Abstract

In 1904, Cantonnet recommended les<i>substances osmotiques</i>(sodium chloride, lactose) in the treatment of glaucoma.¹Since then a number of osmotic agents have been used, with more or less success, to lower both cerebrospinal fluid pressure and intraocular pressure.^2-4Recently, intravenous hypertonic urea has been effectively used.^5,6 Mannitol, a 6-carbon hexahydric alcohol, has been employed fairly extensively as an osmotic diuretic.^7,8Recent experimental and clinical studies have demonstrated that hypertonic mannitol solutions are effective in lowering cerebrospinal fluid pressure and decreasing brain mass.^9,12,20Mannitol is stable in solution, inert, and nontoxic, and its distribution is limited to the extracellular fluid compartment.^8-10These facts indicated that hypertonic mannitol might be an excellent agent for the reduction of intraocular pressure. <h3>Methods and Materials</h3> Ten consecutive patients who received mannitol infusions are included in this study. The group is comprised of 2 patients from the neurosurgical service