Department of Ophthalmology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 29 Saemunan-Ro, Jongno-Gu, Seoul, 03181, South Korea.
Department of Medicine, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea.
BMC Ophthalmol. 2023 Feb 2;23(1):49. doi: 10.1186/s12886-023-02798-4.
To introduce and evaluate the efficacy of a simple punctal occlusion technique for dry eye patients.
Medical records of 79 eyes from 40 patients refractory to common dry eye conservative treatment who underwent multiple high-frequency radio-wave electro-punctal occlusion were retrospectively reviewed. Pre- and post-procedural ocular surface indices (Schirmer test, tear break-up time (TBUT), and corneal staining grade (Oxford scheme)) and subjective symptom scores (including frequency of artificial tear use, interval between procedures, and total repeat time) were analyzed.
Average Schirmer test result was significantly (P < 0.05) improved from 4.10 ± 1.39 mm to 8.14 ± 3.13 mm at 6 weeks after the procedure (n = 79). A total of 32 eyes from 16 patients underwent repeated procedure with a mean interval of 8.00 ± 4.86 months, while 24 patients had a single procedure. Twenty-five of 30 patients showed improvement for subjective symptom scores. No complications related to the procedure were observed.
A simple, less-invasive punctal occlusion technique using a fine-needle tip with high-frequency radio-wave could significantly relieve subjective symptoms and improve ocular surface indices of patients with aqueous deficient dry eye without causing a major complication. This procedure may play a considerable role in treating dry eye refractory to common practices.
介绍并评估一种简单的泪小点阻塞技术治疗干眼症患者的疗效。
回顾性分析 40 例难治性干眼症患者 79 只眼，这些患者接受了多次高频电波电灼泪小点阻塞治疗。分析术前和术后的眼表指标（Schirmer 试验、泪膜破裂时间（TBUT）和角膜染色分级（Oxford 方案））和主观症状评分（包括人工泪液使用频率、治疗间隔和总重复时间）。
79 只眼术后 6 周 Schirmer 试验结果明显（P<0.05）改善，从 4.10±1.39mm 提高到 8.14±3.13mm。16 例患者中的 32 只眼进行了重复治疗，平均间隔为 8.00±4.86 个月，24 例患者仅进行了一次治疗。30 例患者中有 25 例主观症状评分改善。未观察到与该操作相关的并发症。
使用高频电波的细针尖端进行简单、微创的泪小点阻塞技术可显著缓解干眼症患者的主观症状，改善眼表指数，而不会引起严重并发症。对于治疗对常规治疗方法有反应的干眼症，该方法可能具有重要作用。
