A survey found eyecare professionals (ECPs) use lifitegrast 5% (Xiidra, Bausch + Lomb) to treat one fifth of their patients with dry eye disease (DED) and reported moderate-to-high personal and patient satisfaction with the treatment.

Six ophthalmologists and six optometrists in the US and Canada completed the cross-sectional survey on practice characteristics, lifitegrast utilisation, satisfaction and adverse events. ECPs rated satisfaction with lifitegrast overall and for specific clinical outcomes versus other prescription eye drops on a 1 (very dissatisfied) to 10 (very satisfied) Likert scale.

Overall, 66.7% of ECPs reported near or complete symptom resolution in patients after 1–3 months of lifitegrast treatment, with overall satisfaction (ECPs/patients) rated 7.1 and 6.8, respectively. Predominant uses of lifitegrast included contact lens-induced DED (91.7%) and DED before/after refractive or cataract surgery (83.3% each).

In other news, a recent prospective observational case-series study of lifitegrast 5% for the treatment of DED in 50 adult patients found it improved clinical signs and DED biomarkers, demonstrating effective results within 12 weeks of treatment.

Lifitegrast 5.0% is an FDA-approved anti-inflammatory drug for treating DED and acts as an LFA-1 antagonist, reducing inflammation and enhancing tear production. It is currently not listed as a registered medicine in New Zealand but is available on prescription in Australia.