April 2011
Volume 52, Issue 14
Free
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   April 2011
Does Acupuncture Treatment Benefit Dry Eye?
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Kenneth S. Shaw
    Surgery, U.S. Army, Lorton, Virginia
    Surgery,
    Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, Dist. of Columbia
  • Kraig S. Bower
    Center for Refractive Surgery,
    Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, Dist. of Columbia
  • Michael J. Mines
    Surgery,
    Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, Dist. of Columbia
  • Denise S. Ryan
    Surgery,
    Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, Dist. of Columbia
  • Rose K. Sia
    Surgery,
    Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, Dist. of Columbia
  • Aaron K. Tarbett
    Optometry Service,
    Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, Dist. of Columbia
  • Stephen Burns
    Acupuncture Clinic, Malcolm Grow Medical Center, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland
  • Richard Niemtzow
    Acupuncture Clinic, Malcolm Grow Medical Center, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships  Kenneth S. Shaw, None; Kraig S. Bower, None; Michael J. Mines, None; Denise S. Ryan, None; Rose K. Sia, None; Aaron K. Tarbett, None; Stephen Burns, None; Richard Niemtzow, None
  • Footnotes
    Support  None
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science April 2011, Vol.52, 3839. doi:
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      Kenneth S. Shaw, Kraig S. Bower, Michael J. Mines, Denise S. Ryan, Rose K. Sia, Aaron K. Tarbett, Stephen Burns, Richard Niemtzow; Does Acupuncture Treatment Benefit Dry Eye?. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2011;52(14):3839.

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      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

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Abstract
 
Purpose:
 

To determine if there are objective beneficial effects of acupuncture treatment versus sham acupuncture on dry eyes, as measured by some of the most widely-used clinical indicators in the literature.

 
Methods:
 

Seventeen volunteers (8 real, 9 sham) were enrolled in a prospective, randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled study. Each subject underwent acupuncture in two treatment sessions separated by 24 hours. The following outcome measures were assessed pre-acupuncture and at 1 week, 1, 3, and 6 months post-acupuncture: Questionnaires- McMonnies and Ocular surface disease index (OSDI), Schirmer’s test (ST) with and without anesthesia, fluorescein tear break up time (TBUT), lissamine green staining (LG) and corneal surface regularity index (SRI). One eye was randomly selected for data analysis. Data was presented as median values ± standard deviation and the Mann-Whitney test was used to compare real to sham. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant.

 
Results:
 

The median age in the real group (7 females, 1 male) was 49.0±8.5 years(y) and the sham group (8 females, 1 male) was 55.0±8.5y. Clinical indicators of dry eye are presented in Table 1.

 
Conclusions:
 

In this small cohort study, there was no significant improvement in the measured clinical indicators of dry eye after acupuncture treatment.  

 
Clinical Trial:
 

http://www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT00554879

 
Keywords: cornea: tears/tear film/dry eye 
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