Sphenopalatine Ganglion Stimulation for Ocular and Oral Dryness

Plain-language summary

Dry Eye Disease (DED) is a multifactorial pathology characterized by inflammation of the lacrimal functional unit that develops in ocular surface pathology, severely affecting patients quality of life. The core of the treatment relies at present in antinflammatory topical therapies, which are still scarce. The investigators hypothesize that osteopathy-based techniques may help these patients by influencing the central involvement regarding parasympathetic innervation of tear and saliva-secreting glands. The aim of this osteopathic treatment protocol is to release the involved structures in the tear-secreting system innervation, such as the sphenopalatine ganglion. In addition, this ganglion innervates the minor salivary glands, therefore it is intended to help patients suffering from xerostomia. The hypothesis then is that a systemic protocol treatment can help balance both parts of the vegetative nervous system (sympathetic and parasympathetic) with the objective of increasing the secretion of tear and saliva in patients with ocular and oral dryness (DED and xerostomia, respectively), thus improving their clinical situation. This osteopathic protocol does not have the potential to cause adverse effects. The main objective is to analyze the efficacy of this protocol application in terms of improving symptoms and signs of ocular and oral dryness, tear film quality and inflammation molecule levels in tears and saliva.

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