Evaluation of preoperative dry eye in people undergoing corneal refractive surgery to correct myopia

To investigate the incidence of preoperative dry eye and related factors in patients undergoing corneal refractive surgery to correct myopia.

A total of 141 patients with myopia who underwent corneal refractive surgery were surveyed by questionnaires, tear film break-up time (BUT) test, Schimer I test (SIt), corneal fluorescein staining (FL) test and diagnosed according to the currently recognized domestic diagnostic criteria for dry eye. Correlation analysis of factors such as age, gender, regular wearing of contact lens (CL), diopter (spherical equivalent), corneal thickness, and corneal curvature that may affect the onset of dry eye was carried out to clarify the main influencing factors.

There were 64 patients (45.39%) diagnosed with dry eye. The male patients (20.31%) was significantly less than that of non-dry eye subjects (41.56%; χ ²=7.260, P=0.007); the proportion of patients with dry eye wearing CL (81.25%) was significantly higher than that of non-dry eye subjects (51.95%; χ ²=13.234, P<0.001); the median diopter level of dry eye patients was -6.59 (IQR: -8.87, -4.58) D, and the median diopter level of non-dry eye subjects was -5.69 (IQR: -7.15, -4.03) D. The diopter level of dry eye patients was significantly higher (Z=-2.086, P=0.019). However, the age, best corrected visual acuity, and intraocular pressure of dry eye patients were not statistically different from those of non-dry eye subjects (t=-0.257, -0.383 and 0.778, P=0.798, 0.702, and 0.438); the corneal thickness and corneal curvature (K1 and K2) were also not statistically different either (Z=-1.487, -1.036 and -1.707, P=0.137, 0.300, and 0.088). The research further analyzes the three significant factors in the single factor analysis (gender, CL wear, and diopter) in a multi-factor way: CL wear and diopter were the influencing factors of dry eye disease. Among them, CL wear increased the risk of dry eye by 2.934 times compared with no CL wear; for every 1 D increase in diopter, the risk of dry eye increased by 0.761 times.

Preoperative dry eye is relatively common in patients who undergo corneal refractive surgery to correct myopia, especially in patients who have a history of CL wear and a high diopter level before surgery. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out preoperative screening and timely treatment of dry eye to obtain the best treatment outcome and postoperative satisfaction.