Every second counts in Dr Lourens van Zyl’s busy Perth clinic, motivating him to switch to a new lubricating eye drop that’s helping his practice find new and unexpected efficiencies.
Dr Lourens van Zyl can see as many as 50 cataract and refractive laser patients a day. There’s hardly a second to spare in his appointment book, so when people complaining of ocular discomfort syndrome need to be squeezed in, the day can quickly turn on its head.
The Perth ophthalmologist is a one-man-band at Crystal Eye & Laser Centre, performing a 50/50 split of cataract and refractive laser surgery – at high volume.
But a recent switch to a brand of lubricating eye drops, now available through Bausch + Lomb (B+L), has significantly cut the number of unscheduled follow-up appointments with patients experiencing post-operative discomfort.
“Regardless of how successful your surgery is, ocular surface problems can cause patients severe pain and distress, and it makes their experience negative,” he says. “We want to leave a positive impression, and by changing to Blink eye drops, we found callback rates and patients reporting ocular discomfort syndrome is significantly less. It makes my job much easier.”
Time is the main remedy for these patients, but still, their complaints can’t be dismissed.
“You have a duty of care towards these people, and we always need to see them to rule out anything more sinister. With a fully-booked clinic, if there’s three or four of these extra patients it can really ruin your day.”
Blink Intensive Tears Preservative Free is the eye drop that’s made the difference in Dr van Zyl’s clinic.
For mild-moderate dry eye, this advanced lubricating eye drop is specially formulated to provide protection and comfort for the eyes that are dry, irritated or uncomfortable. It contains 0.20% sodium hyaluronate, and comes at a lower price point than other over-the-counter drops also with this ingredient.
It’s one of five Blink eye drop and contact lens rewetting products available through B+L, which acquired the range from Johnson & Johnson Vision in 2023 for US$106 million (AU$155m), expanding its over-the-counter dry eye portfolio.
Others in the range include:
• Blink Intensive Tears – a non-preservative-free drop available in a multidose bottle for mild-moderate dry eye.
• Blink Intensive Tears PLUS – a thicker, more viscous lubricating eye drop for moderate-to-severe dry eye, containing high dose 0.38% hyaluronate.
For ophthalmologists like Dr van Zyl, Blink Intensive Tears Preservative Free has become the go-to because it’s well tolerated by patients. Also, it’s a preservative-free formulation.
“In my days as a corneal trainee and subspecialist, we always worked to avoid any toxins on the ocular surface. Even though I’m not convinced there’s evidence showing which one is ultimately better, I feel the less chemicals you expose the ocular surface to, the healthier it’s going to be.
“You never know when someone is going to be sensitive to a preservative, so I’d rather just prevent that altogether.”
His protocol is to prescribe the lubricant one month pre-operatively if patients have signs or symptoms of dry eye, diagnosed via a tear break-up time test on his corneal topographer.
Post-operatively, all patients are advised to use Blink Intensive Tears Preservative Free for six months, especially during the hot Perth summer.
Beyond the performance on the ocular surface, there are other reasons Dr van Zyl likes the eye drop.
Because it comes in single-use ampoules, it’s easy for patients to take in their bag and there’s no need to keep them refrigerated.
For the ophthalmologist, it’s reassuring to work with a company with a vested interest in the entire patient journey.
“Bausch + Lomb is a company that I’m familiar with, I know their reps like Albert Yau, who was instrumental in us making this change to Blink eye drops,” Dr van Zyl says.
“It’s reassuring to know the people supplying us with intraocular lenses are also supplying us with the drops; they know us, our patient and practice profiles.”
For his ophthalmology colleagues, Dr van Zyl has a clear message: Blink Intensive Tears Preservative Free eye drops are saving him and his patients valuable time and money.
“It’s the most well-tolerated lubricant I’ve come across to date,” he adds.
“If ophthalmologists add this to their cataract regime or their pre-op regime, there’s a high chance it will reduce post-operative ocular discomfort syndrome significantly, which has been great for my practice.”
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