Managing Severe Evaporative Dry Eye with Intense Pulsed Light Therapy

IntroductionThis study assessed the efficacy and safety of intense pulsed light (IPL) therapy in participants with severe evaporative dry eye disease (DED).MethodsThis randomized, controlled, single-center study included 49 adult participants (>= 18 years) with severe evaporative DED who received either IPL therapy (n = 56 eyes) or sham therapy (n = 42 eyes) three times. The primary efficacy parameters were ocular surface disease index (OSDI) score, non-invasive tear breakup time (NITBUT), tear film lipid layer (TFLL), conjunctivocorneal staining score (CS), MG Score, meibomian gland (MG) quality, and MG expression score.ResultsThe mean ages for the IPL group and the control group were 28.05 +/- 3.41 years (57.1% female) and 28.14 +/- 3.53 years (52.4% female), respectively. Comparison between the IPL group and the control group found significant differences in the mean OSDI score (22.16 +/- 6.08 vs. 42.38 +/- 6.60; P < 00.01), NITBUT (6.27 +/- 0.84 vs. 3.86 +/- 0.68; P < 0.001), TFLL (2.14 +/- 0.44 vs. 3.45 +/- 0.50; P < 0.001), MG Score (1.34 +/- 0.55 vs. 1.88 +/- 0.33; P < 0.001), MG quality (1.59 +/- 0.07 vs. 2.67 +/- 0.08), and MG expression (1.54 +/- 0.57 vs. 2.45 +/- 0.55) at 12 weeks follow-up; however, there was no significant difference in CS (3.32 +/- 1.11 vs. 3.74 +/- 1.04; P = 0.063).ConclusionThe findings suggest that IPL therapy is clinically beneficial in ameliorating the signs and symptoms of severe evaporative dry eye disease.