Purpose: To evaluate the outcome of late probing for congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction in children 2 to 6 years old and to identify the cause of failure in these children.
Methods: Records of 65 nasolacrimal duct obstructions in 62 children (39 boys and 23 girls) aged 2 to 6 years who underwent primary probing for congenital nasolacrimal duct obstructions were evaluated. The main observations were the type of obstruction encountered during probing (complex/simple), age at the time of probing, and success rate depending on the type of obstruction. Success was the main outcome measure and was defined as complete resolution of all signs and symptoms at 1 week of follow-up. The Mann-Whitney test for statistical significance was used to compare the results between simple and complex nasolacrimal duct obstructions.
Results: Six children had bilateral obstruction. The average age at the time of probing was 37.71 months in children with complex obstruction and 37.27 months in children with simple obstruction. Twenty-one eyes (32.20%) had complex obstruction and 44 eyes (67.69%) had simple obstruction. The success rate was 33% in children with complex obstruction and 97.72% in children with simple obstruction, which was statically significant. The overall success rate of the whole cohort was 76.92%.
Conclusion: Older children with simple obstruction undergoing late probing had an excellent success rate in this study (97.72%). Complex obstruction is the main risk factor for failure of probing in older children. Probing is a successful and viable option in older children.