Simple surgical punctal occlusion with high frequency radiowave electrosurgery

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Dry Eye Disease Research
• Ocular Surface Disease

Background:

• Dry eye disease (DED) affects a significant portion of the population.
• Conventional treatments for DED can be insufficient for some patients.
• Aqueous-deficient dry eye requires effective and accessible therapeutic options.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel, simple punctal occlusion technique for managing dry eye.
• To evaluate the efficacy of high-frequency radio-wave electro-punctal occlusion in DED patients.
• To assess improvements in ocular surface indices and subjective symptoms post-procedure.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of 79 eyes from 40 DED patients refractory to conservative treatment.
• Application of multiple high-frequency radio-wave electro-punctal occlusions.
• Analysis of pre- and post-procedural Schirmer test, tear break-up time (TBUT), and corneal staining (Oxford scheme).
• Evaluation of subjective symptom scores, including artificial tear use and repeat procedure frequency.

Main Results:

• Significant improvement in Schirmer test results (4.10 ± 1.39 mm to 8.14 ± 3.13 mm at 6 weeks, P < 0.05).
• 25 out of 30 patients reported improvement in subjective symptom scores.
• No major complications were observed during or after the procedure.
• The procedure was repeated in 32 eyes with a mean interval of 8.00 ± 4.86 months.

Conclusions:

• High-frequency radio-wave electro-punctal occlusion is a safe and effective treatment for aqueous-deficient dry eye.
• The technique offers significant relief from subjective symptoms and improves objective ocular surface parameters.
• This minimally invasive procedure represents a promising therapeutic strategy for dry eye refractory to conventional treatments.