Early probing of congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction: an analysis of 92 cases

Introduction: Nasolacrimal duct obstruction (NLDO) is a common clinical problem (5 to 6% of new-borns). Dacryostenosis is a partial or complete block in the nasolacrimal duct. Patients and methods: The records of 68 patients (92 cases) of NLDO with/without mucocele were reviewed. The probing was performed early and according to the same technique. Results: The age at the time of probing ranged from 0 to 7 months (mean 4.6 months). The cure rate was 91.3% and the failure rate was 8.70%. Discussion: Our results are consistent with other reports in the literature. The cure rate was higher with a earlier probing and was good after a second tentative of probing. A multiple obstruction of nasolacrimal system was cause of a failure. This was not the case with mucocele. The optimal timing of the probing is discussed in this report and we prefered to perform the probing to 4 at 6 months. Conclusion: We showed a high cure rate with early probing in our series. These results should be confirmed by a prospective randomised study (in process in our institution).