Efficacy and Safety of Intense Pulsed Light Combined with Conventional Therapy for Moderate- to-Severe Video Display Terminal-Associated Dry Eye: A Retrospective Controlled Study

Abstract Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy, onset characteristics, and safety of intense pulsed light (IPL) combined with conventional therapy for the treatment of moderate-to-severe video display terminal (VDT)-associated dry eye. Methods A retrospective controlled study was conducted on 100 patients (200 eyes) diagnosed with moderate-to-severe VDT-associated dry eye from June 2022 to September 2026. All enrolled patients were divided into two groups: Group A (50 patients, 100 eyes) received combined treatment with meibomian gland expression and topical medications, while Group B (50 patients, 100 eyes) received additional IPL therapy on the basis of the conventional regimen. Outcome measures including the ocular surface disease index (OSDI), non-invasive tear meniscus height (NITMH), non-invasive break up time (NIBUT), schirmer I test (SIT), eyelid margin score (EMS), meibomian gland yielding secretion score (MGYSS), corneal fluorescein staining score (CFSS), and meibomian gland loss score (MGLS) were assessed at baseline, 1 week, 4 weeks, 7 weeks, and 10 weeks after treatment. Generalized estimating equations were applied to address the correlation of binocular data, and repeated-measures analysis of variance and non-parametric tests were used for statistical analysis. Results At 10 weeks post-treatment, all dry eye-related indicators were significantly improved in Group A except for MGLS, whereas all indicators were remarkably ameliorated in Group B. Group B exhibited significantly superior improvements in OSDI, NITMH, NIBUT, SIT, EMS, MGYSS, and CFSS compared with Group A, with no significant between-group difference observed in MGLS. Moreover, Group B achieved obvious therapeutic effects as early as 1 week after treatment, while stable clinical improvements were only observed at 4 weeks in Group A. No severe adverse events occurred in either group throughout the follow-up period. Conclusion IPL combined with conventional therapy provides faster and more robust therapeutic efficacy with favorable safety for moderate-to-severe VDT-associated dry eye. This combined regimen can be recommended as a first-line adjuvant therapeutic strategy for such patients.