Results of Late Probing for Congenital Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction

Efficacy of probing for children with congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction: a retrospective study using fluorescein dye disappearance test and lacrimal sac echography

“…In children affected by CNLDO with persistent epiphora, the more appropriate decision-making process for nasolacrimal duct probing has motivated several controversies [8,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. This debate is related to the lack of any unequivocal conclusions concerning three main items: (i.)…”

“…Persistent deficiency of nasolacrimal duct canalization causes unresolved epiphora, which represents the rationale for carrying out nasolacrimal duct probing, the first-line surgical option for enduring CNLDO [1][2][3][4][5]9]. Although probing is characterized by a high cure rate [10], its effectiveness seems to be reduced with increasing age and, thus, surgery timing is still controversial [8,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Several trials have pointed out that the increasing prevalence of more complex CNLDO cases is the main risk factor for probing failure in older children, and that characteristics and/or site of obstruction have a greater prognostic influence than patient age [10,[23][24][25].…”

Results of endoscopic assisted probing for congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction in older children

“…However, there is still some controversy in the literature regarding the optimal age of probing. Some studies report high success rate 90-97% when probing is performed within the first year of life, decreasing with increasing age [7][8][9][10]14]. Some other studies claim that success is not dictated by the age of probing but by the type of obstruction [1,11,12].…”

Comparison of two endoscopically assisted procedures in primary surgical treatment of congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction in children older than 3 years: Balloon dilatation and bicanalicular silicone tube intubation

“…It is thought that probing could be less successful in older children perhaps because of prolonged inflammation of nasolacrimal system resulting in scarring and more severe obstructions with time, as less severe ones clear spontaneously or with conservative management [4,6,9]. It has been reported that a delay in probing beyond 13 months is associated with decreased success, which worsens linearly with age [4,9,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”