[Walnut-shell moxibustion for dry eye symptoms: a randomized controlled trial].

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Integrative Medicine
• Traditional Chinese Medicine

Background:

• Dry eye syndrome affects a significant portion of the population, leading to discomfort and visual disturbances.
• Current treatments for dry eye syndrome include artificial tears and other pharmacological interventions.
• Walnut-shell moxibustion is a traditional therapy with potential applications in managing ocular conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficacy of walnut-shell moxibustion in managing dry eye symptoms.
• To compare the effects of walnut-shell moxibustion with sodium hyaluronate eye drops on dry eye parameters.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 67 patients with dry eye symptoms.
• Participants were assigned to either a walnut-shell moxibustion group or a sodium hyaluronate eye drops group for 4 weeks.
• Key outcome measures included Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for eye symptoms, tear film break-up time (BUT), corneal fluorescein staining (FL), and Schirmer I test (Sch I).

Main Results:

• Both walnut-shell moxibustion and sodium hyaluronate eye drops significantly reduced OSDI and VAS scores compared to baseline.
• Tear film break-up time (BUT) showed a significant increase in both groups post-treatment.
• No significant differences were observed in OSDI, VAS, BUT, FL, or Sch I between the two treatment groups.
• No significant adverse reactions were reported in either group.

Conclusions:

• Walnut-shell moxibustion appears to be effective in improving subjective dry eye symptoms and contributing to tear film stabilization.
• The therapeutic effects of walnut-shell moxibustion are comparable to sodium hyaluronate eye drops for dry eye management.
• Further randomized controlled trials with larger sample sizes are warranted to confirm these findings.