Abstract: Objective To observe the ocular surface changes in glaucomatous patients treated with benzalkonium chloride (BAK)-free travoprost eye drops. Design Prospective case series. Participants Twenty-two glaucomatous patients (44 eyes) treated with travoprost eye drops with BAK before changing BAK-free eye drops. Methods Questionnaire, tear break-up time (BUT), and Schirmer’s test (ST) were tested before using BAK-free travoprost eye drops and repeated after using BAK-free eye drops 1 week,1 month and 3 months.Main Outcome Measures Symptom scores, BUT, and ST. Results The average BUT in the subjects was (6.95±1.24) s at the beginning, and increased to (7.69±1.17) s and (9.47±1.01) s after BAK-free eye drops medication treatment for 1 month and 3 months, respectively(all P=0.0000). The average ST in the subjects was (8.43±1.73) mm at the beginning, and increased to (10.80±1.58) mm and (12.36±1.54) mm after BAK-free eye drops medication treatment for 1 month and 3 months, respectively(all P=0.0000). The average score of questionnaire in the subjects was 29.68±11.58 at the beginning, and decreased to 24.73±7.27 and 21.45±6.88 after BAK-free eye drops medication treatment for 1 month and 3 months, respectively(P=0.0003, 0.0000). Conclusion Symptoms of glaucoma patients treated with travoprost eye drops suffered from dry eye were relieved obviously and the tear volume and tear film stability were improved by changing as BAK-free travoprost eye drops.

Key words: text-indent: 0px, display: inline !important, font: medium Simsun, white-space: normal, float: none, letter-spacing: normal, color: rgb(0,0,0), word-spacing: 0px, -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px">primary open angle glaucoma/medication, eye surface, benzalkonium chloride