Retained Herrick Plug

Abstract

A 79-year-old female with a history of keratoconjunctivitis sicca presented with several years of epiphora of both eyes. Thirteen years earlier, intracanalicular Herrick lacrimal plugs (Lacrimedics, Eastsound, WA, USA) had been placed in both eyes to treat her dry eye syndrome. After 13 years the patient felt the epiphora was intolerable and underwent endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) of the left, then the right side. Intraoperatively, during the right endoscopic DCR, a Herrick lacrimal plug was found in the common canaliculus into the lacrimal sac. Postoperatively, the patient did well with improved epiphora. The Herrick plug is designed to be intracanalicular, and this case illustrates that the plug can migrate and be retained for many years. Collared punctal plugs have a lower risk of this type of complication.

Keywords

• Retained Herrick plug
• Tearing
• Dacryocystorhinostomy
• Endoscopic