Abstract
Purpose:
To evaluate the efficacy, patient's compliance and tolerability of FDA approved i-Lid Cleanser in patients with mild to moderate blepharitis.
Methods:
Patients with signs and symptoms of mild to moderate blepharitis were treated with FDA approved i-Lid Cleanser (NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc.). A total of 18 patients with mild to moderate blepharitis were treated with i-Lid Cleanser twice daily for two weeks according to manufacturer's guidelines. Efficacy of the treatment was evaluated based on slit lamp examination pre- and post-treatment at 2 weeks. Following signs and symptoms were used to evaluate the severity of blepharitis and efficacy of treatment: eyelid redness, eyelid debris, eyelid swelling, eyelash collarettes and eyelid irritation. A scale of 0 to 3 (0-absent, 1-mild, 2-moderate, 3-severe) was used to identify and monitor blepharitis progression. Patient compliance, tolerability and ease of use was assessed based on patient feedback.
Results:
i-Lid Cleanser treatment showed improvement in subjective (discomfort, itching, dryness, eyelid irritation) and objective (redness, swelling, eyelash collarettes) symptoms of blepharitis. Patients with mild blepharitis reported good compliance (>95%) and ease of use of i-Lid Cleanser. Patients with mild blepharitis (n=10) showed significant improvement in their sign and symptoms. 100% of patients with mild blepharitis improved score by at least one point in all categories. Patients with moderate blepharitis (n=8) showed improvements at a slower rate and needed extended treatment period beyond 2 weeks to achieve similar improvements. The initial improvement ranged between one point to no point in individual categories. These patients had a lower compliance rate of about 80%. However, all patients reported ease of use and post-application comfort and relieve of symptoms.
Conclusions:
Author believe the results are encouraging in group with mild blepharitis, i-Lid Cleanser treatment showed significant improvement in their signs and symptoms. However, patients with moderate blepharitis needed long-term treatment for similar effect. It may be prudent to study the efficacy of i-Lid Cleanser in more number of patients with both mild and moderate blepharitis to establish its beneficial effect in difficult to treat chronic blepharitis.