An Iranian study found cyclosporine 0.05% was superior to artificial tears in the management of immediate postoperative dry eye (DED) following cataract surgery. 

Conducted at Bu-Ali Sina Hospital, the study’s 60 cataract surgery candidates were assigned to two intervention arms for post-surgical treatment with cyclosporine 0.05% or artificial tears containing 0.3 g hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and 0.1 g of dextran. Compared to artificial tears, cyclosporine was found to have anti-inflammatory properties and patients showed improvement in tear secretion. “Our findings suggest that cyclosporine may have additional benefits over artificial tears, particularly an improvement in TBUT (tear break-up time) and its potential to improve tear film stability,” said researchers.

The study was published in Annals of Medicine & Surgery.