Effectiveness of sodium hyaluronate eye gel in patients with dry eye disease: A multi-centre, open label, uncontrolled study

Objective: to assess the effectiveness of sodium hyaluronate eye gel in dry eye disease (ded) patients methods: a multi-center, open-label, uncontrolled clinical trial was conducted in different centers of pakistan. ten ophthalmologists conducted this study in which 250 diagnosed patients with dry eye disease were enrolled after obtaining a written informed consent. ten patients were dropped out during the study period. all patients were assessed as per following criteria for enrolling a patient into the study: tear film break – up time (tbut) ≤ 10 seconds, schirmer test – 1 ≤ 6 mm / 5 minutes and positive corneal staining. tolerability/safety was assessed by the monitoring and recording of all adverse events. the physical examination was done at baseline, 4th week and 8th week. results: the mean age of the patients was 43.4 ±17.8 years and out of 240 patients 117 (48.7%) were males and 123 (51.3%) females. the mean duration of symptoms was 19.3±23.9. at the initial visit the foreign body sensation was 50.6%, itching 35.9%, burning 50.6%, watering 42.9%, photophobia 25.3% and feeling of dryness in 14.7% of patients. after 4 weeks (2nd visit), the symptoms were decreased to 47.1% foreign body sensation, 32.4% itching, 48.2% burning, 41.8% watering, 25.3% photophobia and 13.5% feeling of dryness. at the 3rd visit (after 8 weeks) the frequency of symptoms were: 45.3% foreign body sensation, 30.6% itching, 45.9% burning, 40% watering, 24.7% photophobia and 13.5% feeling of dryness. conclusion: sodium hyaluronate can provide a suitable alternate in the treatment of dry eye disease due to its reported efficacy on foreign body sensation, itching, burning, watering, photophobia and feeling of dryness,