Medical vs Acupuncture for Dry Eye

Summary

This randomized clinical trial was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture combined with artificial tears compared to artificial tears alone in patients with moderate dry eye disease. A total of 90 participants were enrolled at the University of Health Sciences, Ankara Training and Research Hospital. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either artificial tears only or artificial tears with acupuncture. Acupuncture was performed twice weekly for ten sessions by a certified specialist. Assessments were conducted at baseline, after treatment, and at one-month follow-up using the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), Schirmer test, and tear break-up time (tBUT). The primary outcome measure was the change in OSDI score, while secondary outcomes included Schirmer test values and tBUT.

Timeline

Start

2024-01-15

Primary completion

2025-06-30

Completion

2025-08-01

Publications

• Background Duan H, Zhou Y, Ma B, Liu R, Yang T, Chu H, Huo Z, Qi H. Effect of Acupuncture Treatment on the Ocular Pain, Mental State and Ocular Surface Characteristics of Patients with Dry Eye Disease: A Non-Randomized Pilot Study. Clin Ophthalmol. 2024 Oct 3;18:2751-2764. doi: 10.2147/OPTH.S476573. eCollection 2024.
• Background Zhang X, Zhang B, Peng S, Zhang G, Ma J, Zhu W. Effectiveness of acupuncture at acupoint BL1 (Jingming) in comparison with artificial tears for moderate to severe dry eye disease: a randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2022 Jul 27;23(1):605. doi: 10.1186/s13063-022-06486-4.
• Background Wang Y, Peng J, Xiao L, Deng Y, Lu J, Zhou YS, Yang YJ, Peng QH. Effectiveness of acupuncture combined with artificial tears in managing dry eye syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine (Baltimore). 2024 Jan 5;103(1):e36374. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000036374.
• Background Moon SY, Chung HS, Lee JH, Lee H, Tchah H, Kim JY. Effectiveness of cyclosporine nanoemulsion eye drops in patients with mild-to-moderate dry eyes: objective and subjective evaluation. BMC Ophthalmol. 2024 Sep 9;24(1):401. doi: 10.1186/s12886-024-03620-5.
• Background Bawazeer AM, Hodge WG. One-minute schirmer test with anesthesia. Cornea. 2003 May;22(4):285-7. doi: 10.1097/00003226-200305000-00001.
• Background Kuang H, Zhu X, Chen H, Tang H, Zhao H. The immunomodulatory mechanism of acupuncture treatment for ischemic stroke: research progress, prospects, and future direction. Front Immunol. 2024 May 2;15:1319863. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1319863. eCollection 2024.
• Background Oh JE, Kim SN. Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Acupuncture at ST36 Point: A Literature Review in Animal Studies. Front Immunol. 2022 Jan 12;12:813748. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.813748. eCollection 2021.
• Background McCann P, Kruoch Z, Lopez S, Malli S, Qureshi R, Li T. Interventions for Dry Eye: An Overview of Systematic Reviews. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2024 Jan 1;142(1):58-74. doi: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2023.5751.
• Background McMonnies CW. Why the symptoms and objective signs of dry eye disease may not correlate. J Optom. 2021 Jan-Mar;14(1):3-10. doi: 10.1016/j.optom.2020.10.002. Epub 2020 Nov 23.
• Background Villani E, Campagna G, Gentili V, Postorino EI, Genovese P, Palino P, Maini G, Carbucicchio A, Ferioli E, Nucci P, Rizzo R, Aragona P. Hydroxypropyl-Methylcellulose and GlicoPro(R) Eyedrops in the Treatment of Dry Eye Disease: In Vitro and Clinical Study. Ophthalmol Ther. 2025 Apr;14(4):787-803. doi: 10.1007/s40123-025-01101-6. Epub 2025 Mar 1.
• Background Cartes C, Aravena C, Monsalve A, Segovia C, Romero C, Quidel D, Cid F, Monsalve R, Navarro L, Araya D, Araneda D, Sepulveda M. Prevalence of Dry Eye Disease in Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis Candidates. Eye Contact Lens. 2024 Jul 1;50(7):305-310. doi: 10.1097/ICL.0000000000001095. Epub 2024 May 2.
• Background Chen A, Augello P, Asbell P, Ying GS; DREAM Research Group. The repeatability of tests for dry eye signs and symptoms in the dry eye assessment and management (DREAM) study. Cont Lens Anterior Eye. 2025 Apr;48(2):102322. doi: 10.1016/j.clae.2024.102322. Epub 2024 Oct 30.
• Background Qian L, Wei W. Identified risk factors for dry eye syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2022 Aug 19;17(8):e0271267. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271267. eCollection 2022.
• Background Kwon J, Moghtader A, Kang C, Bibak Bejandi Z, Shahjahan S, Alzein A, Djalilian AR. Overview of Dry Eye Disease for Primary Care Physicians. Medicina (Kaunas). 2025 Mar 6;61(3):460. doi: 10.3390/medicina61030460.
• Background Mathebula SD, Khosa PR, Maleswene MM. Comparison of patient reported dry eye symptoms as evaluated by the ocular surface disease index and symptom assessment. Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med. 2025 May 21;17(1):e1-e7. doi: 10.4102/phcfm.v17i1.4861.
• Background Bhatt K, Singh S, Singh K, Kumar S, Dwivedi K. Prevalence of dry eye, its categorization (Dry Eye Workshop II), and pathological correlation: A tertiary care study. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2023 Apr;71(4):1454-1458. doi: 10.4103/IJO.IJO_2591_22.
• Background Britten-Jones AC, Wang MTM, Samuels I, Jennings C, Stapleton F, Craig JP. Epidemiology and Risk Factors of Dry Eye Disease: Considerations for Clinical Management. Medicina (Kaunas). 2024 Sep 5;60(9):1458. doi: 10.3390/medicina60091458.
• Background Bhujbal S, Rupenthal ID, Steven P, Agarwal P. Inflammation in Dry Eye Disease-Pathogenesis, Preclinical Animal Models, and Treatments. J Ocul Pharmacol Ther. 2024 Dec;40(10):638-658. doi: 10.1089/jop.2024.0103. Epub 2024 Oct 2.
• Background Sheppard J, Shen Lee B, Periman LM. Dry eye disease: identification and therapeutic strategies for primary care clinicians and clinical specialists. Ann Med. 2023 Dec;55(1):241-252. doi: 10.1080/07853890.2022.2157477.
• Background Craig JP, Nichols KK, Akpek EK, Caffery B, Dua HS, Joo CK, Liu Z, Nelson JD, Nichols JJ, Tsubota K, Stapleton F. TFOS DEWS II Definition and Classification Report. Ocul Surf. 2017 Jul;15(3):276-283. doi: 10.1016/j.jtos.2017.05.008. Epub 2017 Jul 20.

Drugs

Indications