The use of intense pulsed light therapy in the treatment of refractory meibomian gland dysfunction

Figures & data

Table 1. Published randomized controlled trials investigating the efficacy of intense pulsed light therapy for the treatment of meibomian gland dysfunction.

Study	Design	Sample size	Treatment course	Outcomes
Craig et al, [38]	Double-masked, paired eye, randomized, sham-controlled eye trial	28	E-Eye device (9–13 J/cm^2) at weeks 0, 2, and 6	Improved dry eye symptomology, lipid layer thickness, and tear film stability following treatment course
Liu et al, [15]	Double-masked, paired eye, randomized, sham-controlled eye trial	44	Lumenis device (14–16 J/cm^2) at weeks 0, 4, and 8	Reduced IL-17A, IL-6, PGE-2 tear inflammatory marker expression following treatment course
Rong et al, [28]	Double-masked, paired eye, randomized, sham-controlled eye trial	44	Lumenis device (14–16 J/cm^2) at weeks 0, 4, and 8	Improved dry eye symptomology, meibomian gland expressibility, tear film stability, and corneal staining following treatment course
Rong et al, [31]	Double-masked, paired eye, randomized, sham-controlled eye trial	28	Lumenis device (14–16 J/cm^2) at weeks 0, 4, and 8	Improved meibomian gland expressibility and tear film stability 6 months following completion of treatment course
Xue et al, [14]	Double-masked, parallel-group, randomized, sham-controlled eye trial	87	E-Eye device (9–13 J/cm^2) at weeks 0, 2, 6, 10	Improved dry eye symptomology, lipid layer thickness, meibomian gland capping, and inhibition of periocular Corneybacterium macginleyi load 1 month following completion of treatment course

Table 2. Ongoing randomized controlled trials investigating the efficacy of intense pulsed light therapy for the treatment of meibomian gland dysfunction.

Study	Design	Sample size	Treatment course	Outcome measures
Dell et al, 2018 [39]	Single-masked, parallel-group, randomized, sham-controlled eye trial	88	Lumenis device (14–16 J/cm^2) at weeks 0, 2, 4, and 6	Tear film stability, dry eye symptomology, meibomian gland dropout, eyelid appearance and biomicroscopy, adverse events
Piyacomn et al, 2018 [40]	Double-masked, parallel-group, randomized, sham-controlled eye trial	114	E-Eye device (9–13 J/cm^2) at weeks 0, 2, and 6	Tear film stability, dry eye symptomology, tear osmolarity, corneal staining, lipid layer thickness, meibomian gland dropout and expressibility, Schirmer’s test, tear cytokine levels
Wood et al, 2017 [41]	Double-masked, paired eye, randomized, sham-controlled eye trial	14	Details regarding device and frequency not available. Course of 4 treatment sessions.	Tear film stability, dry eye symptomology
Zadok et al, 2017 [42]	Double-masked, parallel-group, randomized, sham-controlled eye trial	24	Lumenis device (14–16 J/cm^2) at weeks 0, 2, 4, and 6	Tear film stability, dry eye symptomology, tear osmolarity, meibomian gland dropout and expressibility, eyelid appearance

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Liu R, Rong B, Tu P, et al. Analysis of cytokine levels in tears and clinical correlations after intense pulsed light treating meibomian gland dysfunction. Am J Ophthalmol. 2017 Nov;183:81–90.

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Rong B, Tang Y, Liu R, et al. Long-term effects of intense pulsed light combined with meibomian gland expression in the treatment of meibomian gland dysfunction. Photomed Laser Surg. 2018 Oct;36(10):562–567.

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Rong B, Tang Y, Tu P, et al. Intense pulsed light applied directly on eyelids combined with meibomian gland expression to treat meibomian gland dysfunction. Photomed Laser Surg. 2018 Jun;36(6):326–332.

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Xue A, Wang MTM, Ormonde SE, et al. Randomised double-masked placebo-controlled trial of the cumulative treatment efficacy profile of intense pulsed light therapy for meibomian gland dysfunction. Ocul Surf. 2020;18:286–297.

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Available from: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03396913

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Available from: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03518398

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Available from: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03089580

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Available from: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03265652

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