Monocanalicular and Bicanalicular Silicone Tube Intubation Results in Patients With Congenital Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction

Abstract

INTRODUCTION[|]This study aims to compare the retrospective results of patients on whom silicone intubation was performed using either the monocanalicular or bicanalicular method and for whom probing and lavage procedures had failed for the treatment of congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction (CLDO).[¤]METHODS[|]A total of 47 eyes of 42 patients – 25 females; 17 males – on whom silicone tube intubation was performed due to congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction (CLDO) were involved in the study. As part of the study, a monocanalicular tube was placed in 23 of the 47 eyes (1st group), while a bicanalicular tube was placed in 24 of the eyes (2nd group). The average age in the first group was 6.13 years (1–15 years) and 4.51 years (1–15 years) in the second group. Extubation was performed in the postoperative 4.2 month (2–7 months) in the first group and in the postoperative 4.4 month (2–7 months) in the second group. Average length of follow-up of cases was determined to be 10.1 months (6–72 months). [¤]RESULTS[|]The procedure had a success rate of 82% (19 of 23 eyes) in the first group, while the success rate of the procedure conducted in the second group was 79% (19 of 24 eyes), with the difference between the groups determined not to be statistically significant (p=0.76)(Kikare Test). Premature removal of tube was seen in three cases in the first group, with two patients having to be re-intubated and the other not having to be due to the absence of any more complaints. Tube prolapsus from the medial canthal region was seen in two patients from the second group in the second week after operation, resulting in them being extubated in the early period. Pyogenic granuloma was seen in one case in the first group and conjunctivitis in another case in the same group. However, no conjunctival or corneal complications were determined in either patients. [¤]DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION[|]The success rate of monocanalicular and bicanalicular silicone tube intubation in patients who had undergone an ineffective probing procedure was determined to be similar, and there was no difference found between the two procedures in terms of their complication rates.[¤]

Keywords

• bicanalicular intubation
• congenital
• monocanalicular intubation
• nasolacrimal duct obstruction.