A tear duct implant has been shown to be an effective alternative for medicated eye drops to treat pain and inflammation following cataract surgery.
The device, known as as a punctum plug, delivers the correct amount of postoperative medication to the eye, the American Academy of Ophthalmology reported. After a certain period of time the implant liquefies and is cleared naturally through the tear duct.
After cataract surgery most patients are prescribed topical eye drops, but some fail to follow their dosing regimen; this new innovation could help solve that problem.
To test the device's efficiency researchers conducted a Phase 2 trial including 60 participants who were split into two groups, one that received a dexamethasone-medicated punctum plug for 30 days and a placebo group.
The team found the medicated plug group had significantly less pain; on the first day of treatment the placebo groups reported a pain level that was about three times higher than the treatment group, by 14 days this pain level was 11 times higher. Significantly fewer patients in the medicated plug group required additional anti-inflammation treatment and a lower percentage reported light sensitivity.
"Most people who have cataract surgery are older and may have a difficult time adhering to a post-operative eye drop regimen for various reasons," said Dr. Thomas Walters, an ophthalmologist at Texan Eye in Austin, Texas and lead researcher for the study. "Getting eye drops onto the eye can be difficult for anybody, especially those who might have trouble holding the bottle or targeting the drops onto the eye. The punctum plug eliminates those variables and will make recovering from surgery far easier for cataract patients."
The findings were presented Oct. 19 at AAO 2014, the 118th annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
