Platelet-rich plasma in diabetic dry eye disease

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of autologous Plasma- rich platelet (PRP) in symptomatic dry eye of diabetic patients. Design: A prospective single group interventional study. Participants: Twelve diabetic patients with refractory dry eye disease. Methods: Patients were treated with autologous PRP eye drops four times a day for a month. Dry eye symptoms and its frequency, according to DEWS studies, tear film breakup time, improvement of visual acuity lines, and Schirmer test. Results: All the patients had some symptomatic improvement regarding dryness, itching, burning and redness (p=0.002). Five patients, 41.66% (5/12) had improvement of 1 or more lines of visual acuity in both eyes, 50% and 58.33% had no alteration in right and left eye, respectively (p=0.14). Considering Schirmer test, 66.66% (8/12) had improvement in the test value, 25% (3/12) had no alteration in this test value and 8.33% (1/12) had a reduced value in the test after treatment.(p=0.04). Considering the value of BUT test 58.33% (7/12) had improvement in the test value and 41.66% (5/12) had no alteration in this test value (p=0.018). Conclusions: PRP is safe and an interesting alternative therapy in symptomatic diabetic dry eye. More clinical trials are required to create specific protocols to this treatment.