Efficacy of Warm Compress Therapy in Enhancing Tear Film Quality and Reducing Postoperative Dry Eye Syndrome after Cataract Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Dry eye disease is a multifactorial condition often exacerbated by cataract surgery, leading to discomfort and visual disturbances. Meibomian gland dysfunction, a key cause of dry eye disease, contributes to tear film instability, which can be managed with warm compress therapy. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of perioperative warm compress therapy in improving tear film stability and reducing dry eye symptoms following cataract surgery. Methodology: This randomized controlled trial involved 60 participants aged 50 to 70 years with moderate to severe dry eye symptoms and tear film instability, as indicated by high ocular surface disease index scores. Patients were randomly assigned to an intervention group, receiving warm compress therapy after surgery, and a control group receiving standard dry eye treatments for six weeks. Perioperative and postoperative evaluations included the ocular surface disease index and a standardised patient evaluation of eye dryness questionnaire to measure dry eye symptoms and quality of life. The normality of the data was assessed using the Shapiro-Wilk test. Independent and paired sample t-tests were used to analyse the parametric difference between and within each group, respectively, to assess improvement in tear film stability and symptom reduction. Results: Warm compress therapy mean standardised patient evaluation of eye dryness questionnaire at day one was 20.37±3.85 before the treatment and 2.37±1.36 after the treatment, mean score of the control group before treatment was 17.41±2.4, after the treatment was 5.38±1.5. The mean score of ocular surface disease index scores of the warm compress therapy before and after treatment was 75.48±9.09, 18.07±4.45. The mean score of ocular surface disease index of the control group before and after treatment was 54.11±11.3, and 31.41±6.2, respectively. The mean difference in ocular surface disease index was 22.7 (p≤0.05). Conclusion: Significant difference was found between both groups; the warm compress therapy group shows greater improvement in dry eye symptoms and tear film quality, while warm compress therapy offers a significant benefit in managing dry eye after cataract surgery.