-Original-

Improvements in Signs and Symptoms of Dry Eye after Instillation of 2% Rebamipide

Tsutomu Igarashi¹, Miho Fujita¹, Yumi Yamada¹, Maika Kobayashi¹, Chiaki Fujimoto¹, Hisatomo Takahashi¹, Toru Igarashi², Yuichiro Nakano³, Hisaharu Suzuki³ and Hiroshi Takahashi¹

¹Department of Ophthalmology, Nippon Medical School
²Department of Pediatrics, Nippon Medical School
³Department of Ophthalmology, Nippon Medical School Musashi Kosugi Hospital

Purpose: Because dry eye greatly reduces quality of life, this study aimed to examine rebamipide instillation in patients with dry eye and assess the improvement of signs and symptoms as evaluated with the Ocular Surface Disease Index, which is the most popular index and is highly reliable.
Methods: From June 2013 through January 2014, we examined 50 eyes of 25 patients with dry eye (6 men and 19 woman) at our institution. Dry eye was diagnosed on the basis of the presence of symptoms, tear dynamics, and ocular surface abnormalities according to the Japanese criteria for dry eye. Before being enrolled, all patients underwent ocular surface health assessment, including history interviews, and completed the Ocular Surface Disease Index questionnaire. Patients received 2% rebamipide ophthalmic solution 4 times daily for 4 weeks. Signs and symptoms were analyzed before and 4 weeks after rebamipide administration. Tear dynamics, tear break-up time, and ocular surface abnormalities were measured and compared between before and 4 weeks after rebamipide administration.
Results: Of the 25 patients, 9 had definite dry eye and 16 had probable dry eye. Tear break-up time and the fluorescein staining score significantly improved after 4 weeks. However, no significant change was observed for the Schirmer test I and the lissamine green staining score.
Conclusions: The administration of 2% rebamipide 4 times daily for 4 weeks improves the signs and symptoms of dry eye and improves patients' quality of life.

J Nippon Med Sch 2015; 82: 229-236

Keywords
dry eye, rebamipide, Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), symptoms, signs

Correspondence to
Tsutomu Igarashi, MD, PhD, Department of Ophthalmology, Nippon Medical School, 1-1-5 Sendagi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8602, Japan
tutomu@nms.ac.jp

Received, March 29, 2015
Accepted, August 10, 2015