Posters

Treatment efficacy for dry eye-related ocular pain

Poster Details

First Author: R.Sayegh UAE

Co Author(s):    A. Siedlecki   S. Smith   A. Siedlecki   S. Hayek           

Abstract Details

Purpose:

An ocular pain component is frequently reported by patients with dry eye disease (DED). We evaluate the subjective effect of dry eye treatment on ocular pain in patients with DED.

Setting:

Tertiary care academic center

Methods:

Cross-sectional study of patients presenting with a chief complaint of dry eye. Demographics, past ocular and medical history, OSDI, numeric pain scale score, pain descriptors, and subjective response to each attempted dry eye treatment (“helped a lot”, “helped partially”, “did not help”) were collected between February and August 2018. Non-parametric tests were used to identify differential treatment response in patients with various pain levels.

Results:

144 patients were divided into 4 groups according to their pain level. Increasing pain was significantly associated with younger age and a higher OSDI score. Patients with higher pain intensity ratings were more likely to report a history of fibromyalgia or depression. A significantly lower proportion of severe pain patients reported improvement with artificial tears, cyclosporine, punctal occlusion and serum tears. There was no significant difference in reported improvement with ointment, lifitegrast, omega-3, tetracyclines, pain pills, opioids, gabapentinoids, antidepressants, hot compresses, sunglasses, and aerobic exercise in all patients versus the severe pain group.

Conclusions:

Dry eye patients with severe ocular pain often have associated psychological and systemic pain conditions. Cross-sectional studies can provide guidance in the treatment of patients with dry eye-related ocular pain and guide future prospective studies on potentially effective therapies.

Financial Disclosure:

None