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Home › Articles › General Health › Blocked Tear Ducts

Blocked Tear Ducts

Nothing to Cry About

By Lisa A. Goldstein

Pages:  1  2  3  

Indeed, if a child has persistent tearing when he or she reaches close to a year of age, probing and irrigation is usually recommended, Dr. Friedman says. This is a procedure that involves introducing a metal probe into the tear duct and passing it along the route of the duct into the nose to try to break up any scarring and open the membrane at the end of the duct. Following this, a cannula (metal tube) attached to a syringe is introduced into the tear duct. Dye mixed with saline is then injected to see if the dye passed through the duct and into the nasal passage.

While this procedure is usually done with general anesthesia to ensure that the child doesn't move or have any pain, it's not a surgery per se, Dr. Friedman says. Eighty to 90 percent of patients who undergo this procedure have a successful result if it's done within the first 11 to 15 months of life. The rate of success drops the longer you wait.

Ironically, in Nolan's case, three days before the surgery, one duct cleared up, and the other one was still blocked. The procedure was performed anyway. As soon as Nolan sat down after getting her coffee, the doctor came and got her – it was already done, and her daughter was awake.

"Clear eyes, happy baby, happy mommy and it took just a couple of minutes to fix the problem," Nolan says. "If I had known how easy it would be, I would have done [it] when the pediatrician first said to – at 6 months. Instead, I waited until Holly was 9 months. I recommend that no one wait. Just get it done."

The small percentage of children who persist despite the above treatments will require more complex interventions and surgeries. The good news is that, according to Dr. Friedman, of the 10 percent whose blocked tear ducts don't resolve with conservative management, a vast majority will improve with a single probing and irrigation.

When Treatment Doesn't Work

If a patient doesn't respond to probing and irrigation, and still suffers from significant tearing, the probing and irrigation procedure may be repeated, and silicone tubes may be introduced, left in place for three to six months, and then removed, Dr. Friedman says. This may prevent re-obstruction or scarring. If this is unsuccessful, then a more complex surgical procedure called dacryocytorhinostomy, or DCR for short, may be attempted. This surgery creates a bypass of the existing obstructed duct and provides an alternate drainage for the tears into the nose.


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