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. 2023 May 18;7(4):310-315.
doi: 10.1177/24741264231175555. eCollection 2023 Jul-Aug.

Randomized Controlled Study of Cooled vs Room-Temperature Artificial Tears for Reducing Ocular Surface Irritation After Intravitreal Injection

Smrithi Mani  1 , Haoxing D Jin  2 , Bryce Shonka  1 , Christopher R Fortenbach  2 , Jonathan F Russell  2
Affiliations

Randomized Controlled Study of Cooled vs Room-Temperature Artificial Tears for Reducing Ocular Surface Irritation After Intravitreal Injection

Smrithi Mani et al. J Vitreoretin Dis. .

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of cooled vs room-temperature artificial tears in reducing ocular discomfort after intravitreal injections (IVIs). Methods: Patients receiving a standard intravitreal injection in the retina clinic who met the eligibility criteria and provided informed consented were enrolled in the study. Patients were randomized to the cooled tears or room-temperature tears intervention group. Both groups rated their ocular discomfort following IVI after cooled or room-temperature tears were administered. Results: The cooled group comprised 48 patients and the room-temperature group, 61 patients. There was no significant difference in the reduction of ocular discomfort between the cooled vs room-temperature artificial tears groups (P = .387). In addition, there was a similar level of reduction in ocular discomfort after either intervention (P = .681) regardless of whether or not the patients routinely used artificial tears after previous IVIs. Conclusions: Cooled tears provided no additional benefit in reducing ocular discomfort post-IVI compared with room-temperature tears. Baseline tear use after an IVI may have no true benefit other than a potential placebo effect, recall bias, or both.

Keywords: cooled tears; intravitreal injection; ocular discomfort; randomized controlled study; surface irritation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Ocular discomfort after intravitreal injection in the cooled artificial tears group vs the room-temperature artificial tears group.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Ocular discomfort after intravitreal injection in the regular artificial tears group vs the non-regular artificial tears group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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