Abstract

Purpose: To study the incidence and risk factors of dry eye in diabetic patients undergoing Phacoemulsification.
Methods: Around 220 patients undergoing cataract surgery at a tertiary care hospital in the year 2022, underwent dry eye evaluation with Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), on the preoperative day, 1 week,1 and 3 months following surgery.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 66.25+- 8.99 years. Mean TBUT was 14.16±2.45 and 8.64±2.20 seconds. Mean OSDI values of 26.97±5.34 and 14.96±7.47 respectively at the first and final follow-up. At first follow-up, 89.1% of diabetes cases had grade 2 dry eye (p<0.001), while 94.2% without diabetes had grade 2 dry eye (p<0.001). Final follow-up, grade 0 dry eye was observed in 92.2% of the patients without diabetes and 82.1% with diabetes (p<0.001).
Conclusion: The incidence of dry eyes after cataract surgery was high and it shows a declining trend towards normalization after three months of surgery.