Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How eye drop temperature and thickness affect dog tear ducts
By Sung, Hyeonu et al.·Published in Veterinary ophthalmology·2025·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, South Korea·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Evaluation of changes in lacrimal canaliculi width depending on temperature and viscosity of eye drops using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of four adult dogs underwent testing to see how different temperatures and thicknesses of eye drops affected the width of their tear ducts. The dogs were given artificial tears at 2°C, 20°C, and 38°C, as well as a thicker tear gel. The coldest drops caused the tear ducts to widen the most, but they returned to normal size within about five minutes. The thicker gel kept the ducts wider for over ten minutes, suggesting that using colder and thicker eye drops could be more effective for keeping tear ducts open longer.
People also search for: dog eye drops temperature effect · thick eye drops for dogs · dog tear duct problems
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the changes in the width of the lower lacrimal canaliculi (LC) upon instillation of artificial tears (AT) at different temperatures and viscosities using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). ANIMAL STUDIED: Eight eyes of four client-owned adult dogs. PROCEDURES: Imaging of lower LC was performed under general anesthesia. AT at temperatures of 2°C, 20°C, and 38°C, and a high-viscosity tear gel of 20°C, were topically instilled in 100 μL volumes. SD-OCT tracked LC width changes following each instillation. RESULTS: The average baseline width of the LC was 96.38 ± 30.18 μm. The 2°C AT expanded LC width to 183.50 ± 44.11 μm, returning to baseline in 5.00 ± 1.31 min. The 20°C AT resulted in a width of 155.25 ± 35.79 μm, with a 3.88 ± 1.25 min return. The 38°C AT expanded LC width to 131.75 ± 29.49 μm, with a 2.25 ± 0.89 min return. The high-viscosity tear gel expanded LC width to 208.57 ± 56.31 μm, with remained expanded for 10 or more minutes. In temperature comparisons, the 2°C and 20°C AT significantly expanded the LC width more and had longer return times than the 38°C AT (p < .05). Viscosity comparisons showed higher viscosity eye drops significantly expanded LC width more than lower viscosity eye drops (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: This study found that lower temperature and higher viscosity of eye drops had tendency to result in a wider expansion of the LC width. Additionally, the return time to baseline for LC width tended to be longer with eye drops of lower temperature and higher viscosity. This finding could be helpful in advancing future research on tear dynamics.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38900691/