Skip to content

Efficacy of IPL Treatment of Dry Eye and Ocular Rosacea

Pilot Study to Examine Efficacy and Cytokines Levels After Meibomian Gland Expression (MGX) With and Without Intense Pulsed Light Treatment (IPL)

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03194698
Enrollment
20
Registered
2017-06-21
Start date
2017-08-17
Completion date
2018-12-06
Last updated
2020-01-03

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Ocular Rosacea, Dry Eye

Keywords

Intense Pulsed Light

Brief summary

Dry eye disease (DED) is a common condition that causes ocular discomfort and reduces visual acuity. The two categories of DED are evaporative dry eye and aqueous deficient dry eye. Both conditions can involve pathology of the meibomian glands, lacrimal glands, lids, tear film and surface cells. Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is the leading cause of evaporative dry eye and contributes to aqueous deficient dry eye. The goal of MGD therapy is to provide long term improvement of symptoms for patients by improving the quality of meibum, increasing meibum flow, improving tear film stability and decreasing inflammation. Commonly used therapies include preservative free drops, omega-3 fatty acid supplementation, topical cyclosporine, serum tears, topical azithromycin, oral doxycycline, moisture chambers, intraductal probing, lib margin exfoliation, automated thermal pulsation, warm compresses, among other. Despite this variety of symptoms, patients often do not experience complete or long term relief of symptoms. Forced meibomian gland expression (MGX) has been shown to be an effective method of rehabilitating meibomian glands and improving dry eye symptoms. The eyelid margins are forcefully compressed to express gland contents. Research has shown improvement in patient symptoms with the use of MGX. Intense pulsed light (IPL) have been used in dermatology to treat various conditions. Patients with DED who have tried other therapies and found no relief, often resort to IPL as a last resort. Research has shown IPL alone may be effective in improving patient symptoms. In addition, such studies have failed to show significant adverse events with the use of IPL. Here, we propose a prospective, randomized, case controlled clinical pilot study to examine the efficacy for both subjective and objective measures. 20 patients with DED will be recruited and will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: MGX alone or MGX with IPL. Objective measures will include tear cytokine levels, impression cytology, meibography, tear osmolarity and others. Subjective measures will include quality of life screening tools. We hypothesize that the use of MGX with IPL will lead to greater improvement in subjective dry eye symptoms and objective measures. Given the lack of adverse effects reported in the literature, we do not anticipate adverse effects in our study. Rochester staff Drs. Faustch and Bourne are providing clinical research advice but have no contact with subjects or biospecimens.

Interventions

DEVICEIntense Pulsed Light Treatment (IPL)

IPL is a high-intensity light source consisting of visible light in the wavelength range of 515-1200 nm, that is aimed at the eyes. Treatments are spaced four to six weeks apart for a total of 4 treatments.

Manual expression of the meibomian glands by placing the thumb against the lid margin and press firmly against the eyeball to determine the percentage of meibomian pores that are blocked. This assessment is performed on both the upper and lower lid of each eye.

Sponsors

Mayo Clinic
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 100 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

Dry eye of moderate severity with ocular rosacea diagnosed by ophthalmologist. No contraindications of severe ocular surface disease or inability to be safely treated with IPL. Dry eye symptoms must be alleviated with topical anesthetic. No GVHD, Stevens Johnson, active allergic conjunctivitis or other conjunctivitis, alkali burn history. Subjects must have at least 50% meibomian glands viable on meibography and no new treatments for dry eye in the past 6 months. Contact lenses and refractive surgery is okay.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) Symptom Survey Scorebaseline, 3 monthsSymptom survey on severity of dry eye symptoms. This 12-item questionnaire assesses dry eye symptoms and the effects it has on vision-related function in the past week of the patient's life. The questionnaire has 3 subscales: ocular symptoms, vision-related function, and environmental triggers. Patients rate their responses on a 0 to 4 scale with 0 corresponding to none of the time and 4 corresponding to all of the time. A final score is calculated which ranges from 0 to 100 with scores 0 to 12 representing normal, 13 to 22 representing mild dry eye disease, 23 to 32 representing moderate dry eye disease, and greater than 33 representing severe dry eye disease.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in Meibomian Glands Open - Right Lower Lidbaseline, 3 monthsThe count of manual expression of the meibomian glands. A thumb is placed against the lid margin and press firmly against the eyeball to determine the percentage of meibomian pores that are blocked. This assessment is performed on both the upper and lower lid of each eye.
Change in Meibomian Glands Open - Left Lower Lid3 monthsThe count of manual expression of the meibomian glands. A thumb is placed against the lid margin and press firmly against the eyeball to determine the percentage of meibomian pores that are blocked. This assessment is performed on both the upper and lower lid of each eye.

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
MGX and Intense Pulsed Light Treatment (IPL)
Treatment with 4 visits and 4 treatments of IPL and Meibomian Gland Expression (MGX) Intense Pulsed Light Treatment (IPL): IPL is a high-intensity light source consisting of visible light in the wavelength range of 515-1200 nm, that is aimed at the eyes. Treatments are spaced four to six weeks apart for a total of 4 treatments. Meibomian Gland Expression: Manual expression of the meibomian glands by placing the thumb against the lid margin and press firmly against the eyeball to determine the percentage of meibomian pores that are blocked. This assessment is performed on both the upper and lower lid of each eye.
10
Meibomian Gland Expression (MGX)
Treatment with 4 visits and 4 treatments of MGX only Meibomian Gland Expression: Manual expression of the meibomian glands by placing the thumb against the lid margin and press firmly against the eyeball to determine the percentage of meibomian pores that are blocked. This assessment is performed on both the upper and lower lid of each eye.
10
Total20

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicMGX and Intense Pulsed Light Treatment (IPL)Meibomian Gland Expression (MGX)Total
Age, Continuous59.3 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 11.7
60.5 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 12.1
59.9 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 11.6
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
Hispanic/Latino
0 Participants1 Participants1 Participants
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
Not Disclosed
1 Participants0 Participants1 Participants
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
White
9 Participants9 Participants18 Participants
Region of Enrollment
United States
10 participants10 participants20 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
7 Participants10 Participants17 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
3 Participants0 Participants3 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 100 / 10
other
Total, other adverse events
0 / 100 / 10
serious
Total, serious adverse events
0 / 100 / 10

Outcome results

Primary

Change in Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) Symptom Survey Score

Symptom survey on severity of dry eye symptoms. This 12-item questionnaire assesses dry eye symptoms and the effects it has on vision-related function in the past week of the patient's life. The questionnaire has 3 subscales: ocular symptoms, vision-related function, and environmental triggers. Patients rate their responses on a 0 to 4 scale with 0 corresponding to none of the time and 4 corresponding to all of the time. A final score is calculated which ranges from 0 to 100 with scores 0 to 12 representing normal, 13 to 22 representing mild dry eye disease, 23 to 32 representing moderate dry eye disease, and greater than 33 representing severe dry eye disease.

Time frame: baseline, 3 months

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
MGX and Intense Pulsed Light Treatment (IPL)Change in Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) Symptom Survey Score-25.9 percentage of change in OSDI scoreStandard Deviation 20
Meibomian Gland Expression (MGX)Change in Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) Symptom Survey Score-2.0 percentage of change in OSDI scoreStandard Deviation 17.9
p-value: 0.0312Wilcoxon (Mann-Whitney)
Secondary

Change in Meibomian Glands Open - Left Lower Lid

The count of manual expression of the meibomian glands. A thumb is placed against the lid margin and press firmly against the eyeball to determine the percentage of meibomian pores that are blocked. This assessment is performed on both the upper and lower lid of each eye.

Time frame: 3 months

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
MGX and Intense Pulsed Light Treatment (IPL)Change in Meibomian Glands Open - Left Lower Lid14.4 percentage of blocked meibomianStandard Deviation 16.1
Meibomian Gland Expression (MGX)Change in Meibomian Glands Open - Left Lower Lid10.0 percentage of blocked meibomianStandard Deviation 14.1
p-value: 0.74Wilcoxon (Mann-Whitney)
Secondary

Change in Meibomian Glands Open - Right Lower Lid

The count of manual expression of the meibomian glands. A thumb is placed against the lid margin and press firmly against the eyeball to determine the percentage of meibomian pores that are blocked. This assessment is performed on both the upper and lower lid of each eye.

Time frame: baseline, 3 months

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
MGX and Intense Pulsed Light Treatment (IPL)Change in Meibomian Glands Open - Right Lower Lid6.9 percentage of blocked meibomian poresStandard Deviation 11
Meibomian Gland Expression (MGX)Change in Meibomian Glands Open - Right Lower Lid5.0 percentage of blocked meibomian poresStandard Deviation 11
p-value: 0.79Wilcoxon (Mann-Whitney)

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 16, 2026