PURPOSE: Artificial tears (ATs) are used routinely to alleviate the symptoms of mild to moderate dry eye. Preservative-free cationic emulsions (eg, Cationorm(®)) are an innovative approach for the management of signs and symptoms of dry eye. The aim of the present exploratory experiment was to evaluate the efficacy of this cetalkonium chloride (CKC)-containing cationic emulsion on debrided cornea and to characterize its effects on scraping-induced inflammation. METHODS: Four ATs were assessed in a rat model of corneal scraping. The upper part of the corneal epithelium was scraped before a 5-day treatment, followed by clinical evaluations and fluorescein staining to evaluate cornea recovery. The anti-inflammatory efficacy of the ATs was assessed in vivo and in vitro. RESULTS: In vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) revealed a trend toward better corneal clinical signs (lower IVCM scores) for the animals treated with the unpreserved ATs. Benzalkonium chloride treatment decreased goblet cell count by 37.5%. While the soft-preserved Systane Balance(®) and Optive(®) and the preservative-free Vismed(®) had no effect on the goblet cell count, Cationorm increased this count by almost 40%. Interestingly, inflammatory cell infiltration in the stroma was at its lowest following treatment with the preservative-free Cationorm. Cationorm is also the only AT decreasing IL6- and IL8-stimulated secretion by 59% and 74%, respectively. CONCLUSION: By restoring an adequately hydrated ocular surface environment, the different ATs promote corneal epithelium healing. These data position Cationorm as a promising AT for the management of signs and symptoms of dry eye in patients with mild to moderate dry eye disease presenting chronic subclinical levels of ocular inflammation.