Incidence and pattern of dry eye after cataract surgery

PURPOSE: The objectives of the study were to identify the incidence and pattern of dry eye after phacoemulsification and manual small incision cataract surgeries. METHODS: The study consisted of two groups of patients - Group 1 underwent manual small incision cataract surgery (SICS) and Group 2 underwent phacoemulsification. The dry eye-related data was collected preoperatively and at 1 week, 1 month and 3 months postoperatively. Ocular Surface Disease Index questionnaire, tear break-up time (TBUT) and Schirmer test – 1 were used to record the type of dry eye. RESULTS: One hundred eyes of 96 patients, including 35 (36.5%) men and 61 (63.5%) women with the mean age of 63.1 (±8.3) years were studied. Dry eyes were found in 42% eyes (p < 0.001) of patients at 1 week follow-up. Fifteen percent and 9% of the eyes were dry at 1 month and 3 months after surgery, respectively. There were 34 (53.1%) and 8 (22.2%) dry eyes in SICS and phacoemulsification groups, respectively at one week postoperative follow-up which was a statistically significant difference. Majority of eyes (27/42, 64.3%) had mild dryness. There were significant differences in TBUT at 1 week, 1 month and 3 months postoperatively. At 1 week review, the SICS group had mean TUBT of 10.0 (±0.55) sec as compared to 13.9 (±0.70) sec in phacoemulsification group (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Incidence of dry eye is higher in SICS than phacoemulsification due to tear film instability. The clinicians should be conscious about dry eye symptoms and signs in an otherwise healthy eye after cataract surgery.