Abstract :
Purpose: To analyse the etiology of epiphora in the adult age group in a tertiary care centre in a developing
country and the type of surgical intervention needed in those not amenable to medical management.
Materials and Methods: Ninety-eight adult patients with primary complaint of epiphora were analysed
retrospectively. The patients included were those who had either some obstruction in the lacrimal drainage
pathway or had poor apposition of punctum to the globe. Reflex tearing or primary hypersecretion as a
causative factor was excluded from the study. Descriptive statistics of the continuous data was presented
using mean± standard deviation / median (interquartile) and range while categorical data in frequency (%).
To compare the proportions between the groups, Fisher exact test was used where the expected frequency
in at least any cell was less than 5. P value
Results: Mean ± standard deviation and median (interquartile) of the patients age (in years) was
53.37±13.71 and 57(42-65) respectively with range of 20-77 years. External dacryocystorhinostomy (with
or without intubation) was the most common surgery performed (n=50, 51%) followed by punctal surgeries
(n=21, 21.4%) and lower lid ectropion correction (n=17, 17.3%).
Conclusion: In the 98 patients studied, external dacryocystorhinostomy was the most performed surgery
for lacrimal passage obstruction. Older female patients are more susceptible to nasolacrimal blockage than
the male patients while obstruction in the upper lacrimal apparatus is more common in younger males.
Lateral tarsal strip is the most performed surgery for lower lid ectropion.
Keyword :
Dacryocystorhinostomy, Epiphora, Ectropion, Entropion, Punctal stenosis.