Effectiveness of Nursing Interventions to Prevent Dry Eye in Critically Ill Patients

Background: Critically ill patients are susceptible to the development of dry eye. Few studies have been conducted on how to best prevent and treat this condition.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of 2 nursing interventions in preventing dry eye in adult intensive care unit patients: liquid artificial tears (Lacribell; Latinofarma) and artificial tears gel (Vidisic Gel; Bausch and Lomb).

Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, 140 participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatment groups: a liquid artificial tears group (n = 70) and an artificial tears gel group (n = 70). The study inclusion criteria were as follows: admission to the intensive care unit, age of 18 years or older, no diagnosis of dry eye at admission, receipt of mechanical ventilation, blink rate of less than 5 times per minute, and a score of 7 or less on the Glasgow Coma Scale. On 5 consecutive days, a single researcher who was unaware of the treatment assignment assessed the participants' eyes using the fluorescein eye stain test and the Schirmer test for dry eye.

Results: Dry eye developed in 21% of participants who received liquid artificial tears versus 9% of participants who received artificial tears gel ( = .04).

Conclusions: In this study, artificial tears gel was superior to liquid artificial tears in preventing the development of dry eye. These results may help nurses deliver evidence-based eye care aimed at reducing the risk of dry eye in critically ill patients.