Effects of Rebamipide on Differences in Power and Axis of Corneal Astigmatism Between Two Intra-patient Keratometric Measurements in Dry Eyes.

Abstract

IntroductionThis study investigated the effect of rebamipide on discrepancies in the power and axis of astigmatism between two intra-patient keratometric measurements in patients with dry eyes.MethodsFifty-eight dry eyes (with a short tear breakup time [TBUT] of less than 5 s) were analyzed. Patients with dry eye were treated with 2% rebamipide ophthalmic suspension (group R) or Mytear® artificial tear ophthalmic solution (group M) for 4 weeks. TBUT and corneal higher-order aberrations (HOAs) were evaluated at baseline and 4 weeks after treatment. Astigmatism power and axis were measured twice during both evaluations, at 5-min intervals. Baseline and post-treatment measurements were compared. Changes in TBUT and HOAs, and intra-patient discrepancies in astigmatism power and axis measurements were evaluated.ResultsHOAs showed significant positive correlations with intra-patient differences in astigmatism power and axis (P < 0.001). At the 4-week post-treatment follow-up, TBUT increased, and HOAs and astigmatism power and axis discrepancies decreased in a significant number of patients in group R (P < 0.001). In group M, only differences in astigmatism power decreased in a significant number of cases (P = 0.005). The degree of change in the intra-patient difference in astigmatism power between the two post-treatment keratometric measurements was significantly greater in group R than in group M (P < 0.001). In group R, baseline HOAs exhibited a significant positive correlation with changes in HOAs and intra-patient differences in astigmatism power (both P < 0.001). In group M, baseline HOAs were only significantly correlated with changes in intra-patient differences in astigmatism power (P = 0.030).ConclusionIn dry eyes with short TBUTs, rebamipide significantly improved the corneal surface condition and significantly reduced intra-patient discrepancies in astigmatism power and axis measurements. Rebamipide may improve the accuracy of intraocular lens (IOL) power calculations in dry eyes, particularly when toric IOLs are implanted.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40123-021-00368-9.