Vol. 6 Issue 2 Part A

Objective: To assess the presence and severity of dry eye symptoms according to Ocular Surface Disorder Index (OSDI) questionnaire and Dry eye severity grading by DEWS 2007 classification in patients who underwent radiotherapy for head and neck cancers. To evaluate correlation between dose of radiation therapy and severity of Dry Eye Syndrome by various clinical methods of evaluation of dry eye.

Design: Observational case control study.

Methods: Participants considering 10% non-response a sample size of 85+8.5=100 subjects with head and neck cancer undergoing radiation. Data analysed using SPSS 22 version software. Chisquare used as test of significance. Independent t test will be used as test of significance to identify the mean difference. p value <0.05 will be considered statisticaly significant.

Results: In the present study, majority of the study population belong to 41-50 years. It was observed that the incidence of dry eye disease was found to be more in patients receiving more radiation (60-70 Gy) in the immediate post radiation period. Many of them were put on medical management of DES and they improved symptomatically in the subsequent follow-ups. Variations in the dose, method of radiation and the usage of protective shields and early medical management of DES play an important role in the prevention of ocular complications especially dry eye syndrome post radiation therapy.