A Study of Incidence and Pattern of Dry Eye After Cataract Surgery with Both SICS and PHACO at a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Prospective Observational Study

Purpose: To identify the incidence and pattern of dry eye disease after phacoemulsification and manual small incision cataract surgery. Methods: The study consisted of two groups. Group 1 underwent manual small-incision cataract surgery (SICS), and Group 2 underwent phacoemulsification. The data were collected preoperatively and at 1 week, 3 weeks, 6 weeks, and 3 months postoperatively. The Ocular Surface Disease Index questionnaire, tear break-up time (TBUT), and Schirmer test were used to analyse dry eye disease. Results: One hundred patients were included in our study. There were 40% men and 60% women. Patients were randomly distributed into SICS and phacoemulsification groups. The preoperative mean TBUT and Schirmer test 1 were 12.45 sec (±2.99, range 11–15 sec) and 24.55 mm at 5 minutes (±5.44, range 15–28 mm), respectively. On day 7, there were severe dry eyes in 6% and moderate in 12% of cases, while after 3 months, there was no severe dry eye disease. After 3 months, there was moderate dry eye disease in 04% of cases and mild dry eye disease in 07% of cases. In both the groups, TBUT and the Schirmer tests were decreased in subsequent follow-up [ P value <0.001] and that was statistically significant. Compared to phacoemulsification, the Schirmer and TBUT values were observed less in the SICS group. At the end of 3 months, there were 27% cases of mild dry diseases in both the groups in our study with predominance in the SICS. Conclusion: It is important that ophthalmologists assess dry eye symptoms before and after cataract surgery to ensure proper treatment, quality of vision, and quality of life for their patients.