The Incidence of Dry Eye Disease after Uncomplicated Phacoemulsification Surgery

: Background: Dry eye is described as a multifactorial disorder of the tear film that occurs due to excessive tear evaporation or tears insufficiency, and so leads to ocular discomfort sensation and ocular tissue damage with time. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of dry eye disease after uncomplicated phacoemulsification surgery at patients with no pre-existed dry eye. Patients and Methods: This hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the incidence of dry eye at 50 eyes of 50 patients who underwent uncomplicated phacoemulsification surgery, with age more than 40 years old. It is measured by dry eye tests ST1, TBUT, and OSDI questionnaire. Results: This study showed that 22% of the patients who underwent uncomplicated phacoemulsification surgery suffered from dry eye with significant results at 1st week postoperative that improved over time. Also, it showed a significant association between microscopic light exposure time (during surgery) and increasing the incidence of dry eye postoperatively. Conclusion: There was a statistically significant drop in the results of the schirmer test1 and TBUT post phacoemulsification surgery, but with no clinical significance, as they still at the normal range. The tear film assessment results at 22% of the patients, at the 1st week post-operative, were out of the normal range at TBUT, OSDI tests and were borderline at ST1. These results improved over time to return to the normal values within 12 week postoperatively.