Treatment: Regimen of Tear Supplementation

The patient had been using topical cyclosporine for months when I first saw him. Since he saw no significant improvement, I counseled him to discontinue use of the prescription medicine.
Artificial tears can supplement the tear film and lubricate the ocular surface, but the therapeutic effect is typically brief owing to the solutions’ short retention time on the ocular surface. To relieve this patient’s dry eye symptoms while wearing contact lenses would require artificial tears to be taken at a frequency of at least 4 or 5 times per day.
Given the patient’s age and his desire not to use artificial tears multiple times each day, I considered LACRISERT® (hydroxypropyl cellulose ophthalmic insert) a suitable lubrication therapy for him. In most cases, a single daily application of the ophthalmic insert can protect and lubricate the ocular surface to relieve dry eye symptoms.1 Some patients may require twice daily use for optimal results. The insert’s continuous lubricating effect, in my clinical experience, is beneficial for appropriate contact lens patients with moderate to severe dry eye.
- Lacrisert [package insert] Bridgewater, NJ: Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc.; 2014.