nature of obstructions in difficult irrigation after probing for congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction

purpose: to evaluate the nature of obstruction in difficult irrigation after probing for congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction (cnldo). methods: in a prospective interventional study, the nature of obstruction in 75 eyes of 68 children aged between 12 and 23 months with cnldo who had difficult irrigation after probing was evaluated. all patients underwent monocanalicular silicone intubation. the nature of obstructions was classified by the surgeon as simple or complex. results: monocanalicular silicone intubation was performed in 75 eyes of 68 patients with cnldo. the mean age of patients was 15.92±3.7 months (range: 12-23 months). thirty-eight of 75 eyes (50.7%) had a simple obstruction, whereas, 37 of 75 eyes (49.3%) had a complex obstruction. there was no significant difference in incidence of simple or complex obstructions (p=1). conclusion: the nature of obstruction was not predictive of difficult irrigation after probing.