Occurrence of dry eye syndrome after cataract surgery with phacoemulsiofication

Introduction: Dry eye is a multifactorial disease of the surface of the eye, characterized by loss of tear film homeostasis accompanied by ocular symptoms. Symptoms of dry eye include tingling, burning, sand or foreign body sensation, blurred vision with light sensitivity. Dry eye can also lead to discomfort and fatigue due to irritation and damage to the tear film. Aim: To investigate the occurrence of dry eye syndrome in patients after cataract surgery with phacoemulsification. Method: The study included 30 eyes, i.e. 30 patients. Preoperatively, all patients underwent a complete ophthalmological examination, then an internal examination, as well as a complete blood count with sedimentation and ECG. Zone-Quick test was performed on all patients preoperatively and 30 days postoperatively, complete examination of the tear film with the LacryDiag device (we used the values of the Noninvasive tear break-up time (NIBUT) test for the purposes of this study), filling in the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire, as well as determining the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA). Result: Postoperatively, BCVA values were significantly improved, on average 0.95 according to the Snellen chart (p = 0.04551), while postoperative values from the NIBUT test were significantly deteriorated (p = 0.01017). The values of the Zone-Quick test were significantly reduced postoperatively, i.e. they ranged from 10 to 25mm, or 17.13mm on average. Deterioration of the results was also noticed on the OSDI questionnaire, i.e. 25 patients from our study (83%) had worse results on the questionnaire after 1 month of cataract surgery, in contrast to the preoperative results. Although the symptoms of dry eye were significantly more pronounced postoperatively, it did not make a difference in terms of the values of the postoperative best corrected visual acuity (p = 0.834). Conclusion: The incidence of dry eye after cataract surgery was 13%. Cataract surgery with phacoemulsification causes significant disruption of the tear film of the eye, leading to postoperative dry eye symptoms in patients. Keywords: dry eye, phacoemulsification, Noninvasive tear break-up time (NIBUT) test, Zone-Quick test, OSDI questionnaire Field: Medical sciences and Healt