ABSTRACT
Congenital obstruction of nasolacrimal duct is a very common cause of epiphora in new born children.Controversy exists regarding the natural course and management of children with congenital nasolacrimalduct obstruction. The present study was undertaken on 80 children of congenital nasolacrimal duct obstructionwith no previous intervention. They were divided into two groups of 40 each. Group 1 had children aged lessthan 1 year and Group 2 comprised of children older than 1 year. Probing was done under general anesthesia.The mean age of the patients in Group 1was 8.35±2.65 months and that of the children in Group 2 was27.5±11.98 months. The overall success rate of probing was 78.75%. Success rates in Group 1 and Group2 were 85% and 72.5%, respectively. The difference between the two groups was statistically insignificant.However, there was a significant difference in the success rate of probing depending on the type of obstruction(p<0.05). Membranous obstruction of NLD was associated with increased success rates of probing ascompared to firm obstruction of NLD (p=0.001230, Yates corrected Chi square =0.0009578). Probing is asafe option of treating congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction. Probing is beneficial in older children althoughthe success rate of probing tends to decline with increasing age. Firm anatomical obstruction in nasolacrimalduct is associated with a decline in the success rate of probing.