PURPOSE: To analyze the success rate and complications in patients with lacrimal obstruction submitted to surgeries. METHODS: The data of patients operated in the "Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual of São Paulo" were analyzed. The lacrimal intubation was performed with a silicone tube, removed after 8 weeks. Surgeries were considered successful in those cases where patients had no postoperative epiphora or ocular secretion, and with a good passage of fluid to the nose or oropharynx. The complications related to the silicone tube were grouped in a table. RESULTS: The patients were operated from April 2002 to July 2006 with an average follow-up period of three months. In a total of 65 eyes, success was obtained in 89.2% of the cases. Seven patients presented postoperative epiphora, and 5 of them were reoperated. In 7 eyes there was an extrusion of the silicone in less than 15 days from surgery, and in this group one patient needed a reoperation. Six eyes presented complications with the silicone: tube prolapse (4 cases), granuloma formation in the nasal cavity (1 case) and lacrimal puncta adhesion (1 case). CONCLUSIONS: This group of patients presented a high success rate with Ex-DCR surgery associated with lacrimal intubation. The intraoperative intubation with silicone tube is not free of complications.
Dacryocystorhinostomy; Lacrimal duct obstruction; Intubation; Osteotomy; Dacryocystitis; Silicone elastomers
