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Thermal pulsation treatment may improve meibomian gland secretion score in cataract patients
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SAN DIEGO — Thermal pulsation treatment of meibomian gland dysfunction in cataract surgery patients may improve gland function and ocular comfort, according to a presentation here.
At the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting, Mitchell A. Jackson, MD, discussed a prospective, randomized study that compared 32 eyes that received a 12-minute thermal pulsation treatment before cataract surgery vs. 30 untreated matched eyes to evaluate improvement in gland function and ocular comfort in patients with meibomian gland dysfunction. Eyes were evaluated at 1 month and 3 months after cataract surgery. Untreated subjects then received a crossover thermal pulsation treatment at 3 months and were followed at 4 months.
Mitchell A. Jackson
The mean meibomian gland secretion score of the treated group improved from 8.3 ± 3.3 at baseline to 20.9 ± 9.8 at 3 months. The mean score of the untreated group was 8.4 ± 2.7 at baseline and 11.6 ± 5.1 at 3 months, and at 1 month after the crossover treatment, the score improved to 19.2 ± 11.4.
Based on mean SPEED score, dry eye symptoms were reduced from 6.9 ± 2.8 at baseline to 4.4 ± 3.8 in the treated group at 3 months. Mean SPEED score in the untreated group was 6.3 ± 3.6 at baseline, 9.7 ± 5.5 at 3 months and 6.7 ± 5.7 at 1 month after crossover treatment.
“This study supports the value of a larger study of thermal pulsation treatment of meibomian gland dysfunction in cataract surgery patients, as we expected,” Jackson said. – by Kristie L. Kahl
Disclosure: Jackson reports he has received research funding from TearScience.