What it means
A drug that acts like acetylcholine. As eye drops it shrinks the pupil and opens the eye's drainage channels, lowering pressure in some kinds of glaucomaglaw-KOH-muhAn eye disease in which the optic nerve is damaged, usually with raised pressure inside the eye, leading to loss of vision.Full entry ; a low-strength drop is also used for blurry near vision with age. As tablets it makes more saliva for clients with dry mouth after head and neck radiation or from Sjögren syndrome. Tablets can cause sweating, flushing, more frequent urination and nausea.
For the nurse
Eye drops make the pupil small, so vision is dim in low light: warn against driving at night or in poor light. With tablets, teach the client to drink fluids to replace sweat losses and report heavy sweating, slow pulse or breathing trouble. Use with care in asthma.
At a glance
| Drug class | cholinergic (muscarinic agonist) |
|---|---|
| Brand names | Salagen (tablets), Isopto Carpine (eye drops), Vuity (eye drops) |
| Spanish | pilocarpina |
Related terms
glaucoma
An eye disease in which the optic nerve is damaged, usually with raised pressure inside the eye, leading to loss of vision.