A comparison between monocanalicular and pushed monocanalicular silicone intubation in the treatment of congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction

AIM: To compare the success rate of monocanalicular versus pushed monocanalicular silicone intubation(PMCI)of the nasolacrimal duct for congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction(CNLDO).METHODS: In a prospective randomized clinical trial 53 eyes of 49 patients with CNLDO underwent either monocanalicular silicone intubation(MCI)(n =28 eyes) or PMCI(n =25 eyes). All procedures were performed by 1oculoplastic surgeon. Treatment success was defined as the complete resolution of epiphora at 3mo after tube removal.RESULTS: The surgical outcome was assessed in 20 eyes with MCI and 20 eyes with PMCI. The mean age of treatment was 26.25 ±10.08mo(range, 13-49mo) for MCI and 26.85±12.25mo(range, 16-68mo) for PMCI. Treatment success was achieved in 18 of 20 eyes(90.0%) in the MCI group compared with 10 of 20 eyes(50%) in the PMCI group(P =0.01). In the PMCI group, the tube loss(30%)was greater than the MCI group(5%), however the differences between the 2 groups proved to be not significant(P =0.91).CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that MCI has higher success rate in CNLDO treatment compared with PMCI in this small series of patients.

Bicanalicular versus monocanalicular intubation after failed probing in congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction

AIM：To investigate the clinical outcomes of different intubation techniques in the cases of failed primary probing.METHODS： This retrospective study was performed on338 patients with the diagnosis of congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction with age 1-4y that had failed primary probing.Intubation was performed under light sedation in operating room and the stent was left 3mo in place.Clinical outcome was investigated 3mo after tube removal.RESULTS： Bicanalicular intubation method had higher complete and relative success rates compared to monocanalicular intubation（P =0.00）.In addition,Monoka intubation had better outcomes compared to Masterka technique（P =0.046）.No difference was found between genders but the higher the age,the better the outcomes with bicanalicular technique rather than monocanalicular.CONCLUSION： Overall success rate of bicanalicular intubation is superior to monocanalicular technique especially in older ages.Also,based upon our clinical outcomes,Masterka intubation is not recommended in cases of failed probing.