Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Schirmer's test
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==Test procedure== [[File:Schirmer test =0,00.jpg|thumb|Schirmer test = 0,00 in Sjögren's syndrome]] The test works by the principle of capillary action, which allows the water in tears to travel along the length of a paper test strip in an identical fashion as a horizontal capillary tube. The rate of travel along the test strip is proportional to the rate of tear production. The patient is instructed to look upward, and the patient’s eyelid is pulled down. The bent end of the test strip is placed in the eye such that it rests between the palpebral conjunctiva of the lower eyelid and the bulbar conjunctiva of the eye. Schirmer's test uses paper strips inserted into the eye for several minutes to measure the production of tears. Both eyes are tested at the same time. Most often, this test consists of placing a small strip of filter paper inside the lower eyelid (inferior fornix). The eyes are closed for 5 minutes. The paper is then removed and the amount of moisture is measured. After five minutes, the patient is asked to open both eyes and look upward so the test strips may be removed. The Schirmer test score is determined by the length of the moistened area of the strips (using the scale packaged with the strips) The use of the anesthetic ensures that only basal tear secretion is being measured.<ref name=statsp>{{cite book |last1=Brott |first1=Nathan R. |last2=Ronquillo |first2=Yasmyne |chapter=Schirmer Test |title=StatPearls |date=2022 |publisher=StatPearls Publishing |id={{NCBIBook2|NBK559159}} |pmid=32644585 }} {{CC-notice|cc=by4|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559159/}}</ref> A young person normally moistens 15 mm of each paper strip. Because hypolacrimation occurs with aging, 33% of normal elderly persons may wet only 10 mm in 5 minutes. Persons with [[Sjögren's syndrome]] moisten less than 5 mm in 5 minutes.{{cn|date=January 2022}} How to read results of the Schirmer's test: :1. Normal which is ≥10 mm wetting of the paper after 5 minutes.<ref name=statsp/> :2. Tear deficiency which is <5 mm wetting of the paper after 5 minutes.<ref name=statsp/>
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)