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For post-LASIK dry eye, use tears ‘whether you need them or not’

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NEW YORK — LASIK patients who used artificial tears regularly 4 to 6 times per day for up to 3 months postoperatively experienced a reduction in dry eye symptoms, according to one surgeon.

“Should we tell patients to use artificial tears as needed or all the time?” Kerry D. Solomon, MD, asked the audience at the Eleventh Annual Ocular Surgery News New York Symposium on Cataract, Glaucoma, Retina and Refractive Surgery. “We should be giving our patients drops 4 to 6 times per day whether they need them or not,” Dr. Solomon said.

In a study, 80 patients who underwent LASIK for myopia were given artificial tears or saline solution. One group was asked to administer artificial tears 6 times per day on a set schedule. The other group was asked to administer saline solution as needed for pain, blur, light sensitivity or night driving.

Results found that patients administering drops on the strict schedule had fewer dry-eye symptoms and were more comfortable than patients who administered the drops on an as-needed basis.