Efficacy and Safety of Thermic Devices in the Treatment of Meibomian Gland Dysfunction

Dry eye syndrome is considered one of the most important ophthalmologic diseases, affecting 10 to 20% of the general population. Of these, 3.7% to 70% of cases are due to meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). MGD is a chronic diffuse disease characterized by terminal duct obstruction and/or qualitative/quantitative changes in gland secretion. This causes a disruption in the tear film, ocular irritation symptom, inflammation, and ocular surface symptoms. The gold standard for the treatment of meibomian dysfunction is the use of warm compresses and eyelid massage 2 times a day. These have variable results and consequently patient's adherence to treatment is low. An alternative treatment is the use of thermal therapy devices such as Lipiflow, MiBo Thermoflo, and Blephasteam. The objective of this study is to determine if the thermal device MiBo Thermoflo is more effective than warm compresses and eyelid massage in the treatment of dry eye secondary to MGD. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: the Mibo group will receive 3 sessions of thermal therapy at 2 weeks interval and the control group warm compresses and eyelid massage 2 times per day. All subjects will have follow up of 24 weeks and we will compare results for both groups at the end of the study. During the protocol patients in both groups will continue with their standard treatment for dry eye as needed.