FP35

Understanding Post-Operative Dry Eye Disease and the Role of Sodium Hyaluronate Eye drops: A Questionnaire-Based Survey

Study Design: Cross-sectional survey of 96 ophthalmologists across India. 
Purpose: To evaluate the risk factors, and management of post-operative dry eye disease (DED), with a focus on HA tear substitutes.
Methods: Ophthalmologists were surveyed regarding practice patterns for post-operative DED.
Results: Post-surgical factors were identified as a major cause of DED by 72.92% of respondents, with cataract surgery (41.67%) and LASIK (37.50%) as leading contributors. Symptoms commonly persisted for 1-3 months (66.67%) and negatively impacted quality of life (89.58%). Tear substitutes were the preferred treatment (95.83%), with sodium hyaluronate being the most frequently used polymer (52.08%). 88.54% of ophthalmologists valued its osmoprotective and epithelial healing properties. 
Conclusion: Post-operative DED is a common but manageable complication of ophthalmic surgery and Sodium hyaluronate-based tear substitutes are considered effective in this complication