Intense pulsed light therapy: A promising complementary treatment for dry eye disease

Abstract Objective To propose the intense pulsed light (IPL) therapy as a helpful supplementary treatment in patients with dry eye disease. Material and methods Retrospective cross sectional design. Medical records of patients in whom dry eye disease symptoms were not satisfactorily controlled with medical therapy alone and who underwent additional IPL therapy, and tree sessions were completed. Data were analyzed before therapy and 3 weeks after its completion to assess improvement. Determination of symptoms, through a visual analog scale; tear film stability, through tear Break Up Time (tBUT); measurement of tear secretion, through Schirmer Test; and ocular surface staining with Van Bijsterveld score were evaluated. SPSS software and nonparametric analysis of repeated measures were used. The study was approved by the ethics committee. Results 50 eyes from 25 subjects were reviewed. There were 9 males (36%) and 16 females (64%), with a median age of 59 years (IQR 52–64). The median of the symptoms scale was 8 (IQR 8–9) and 3 (IQR 2–4) before and after the therapy respectively ( p p Conclusion IPL treatment has excellent results regarding both: dry eye disease symptoms improvement and in office objective tests such as tBUT, Schirmer test and Van Bijsterveld score; IPL could be considered as an effective adjunct for dry eye disease.