Management of pain is difficult in many eye diseases. Particularly in patients undergoing surgical procedures, postoperative intractable pain is a major concern and severely influences the patient's comfort. We present 13 patients (eight male, five female, mean age 36 years) in whom sumatriptan, a highly selective 5-HT1B/1D agonist that is normally used as a specific anti-migraine drug, was used for the treatment of pain following photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). In two patients both eyes were operated on different days, resulting in a total of 15 operated eyes. A positive clinical response was achieved in all patients. In particular, in four patients, who received a second dose prophylactically 4 h following the first dose and before the recurrence of pain, we achieved excellent efficacy and stable control of pain. Further controlled studies are needed to investigate the usefulness of 5-HT1B/1D agonists in painful eye conditions.