Abstract
Purpose :
Contact lens surface dryness, deposit accumulation, and discomfort are crucial factors leading to patient dissatisfaction while wearing gas permeable (GP) contact lenses. Polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based polymer mixture can be covalently (permanently) bonded to the surface of the contact lens to create a wet surface on the lens material, separating it from the ocular surface and tear film. We performed a randomized, double masked, contralateral eye clinical study to determine if bonded PEG improves wettability, tear breakup time, deposit resistance and overall comfort of GP contact lenses compared to non-PEG lens surfaces.
Methods :
50 adapted <span style="line-height:20.8px">bilateral </span>habitual GP wearers at the University of Iowa, were randomized to wear PEG-treated lens in one eye and an untreated in the contralateral eye for 4 consecutive weeks. Tear break up time, surface deposits, comfort scores and lens preference were recorded with their habitual lenses, at dispensing with the new lenses and after 1 month of wear. Both patient and clinician were masked to which lens had the surface treatment. Participants rated lens vision, comfort and preference on analogue scales along with symptoms of ocular discomfort and dryness using the Contact Lens Dry Eye Questionnaire-8.
Results :
There was a clinically significant improvement in the performance of the GP lenses with the PEG surface as evidenced by a longer tear breakup time, a reduction in lens deposits and an increase in subjective comfort. There was also a significant difference in overall lens preference favoring the PEG surfaced GP’s.
Conclusions :
Covalently bonded Polyethylene glycol provides a clinically significant improvement on GP lens surface dryness, deposit accumulation and comfort. These results indicate that PEG surface is preferred among patients wearing GP lenses and may result in improved GP tolerability
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.