Primary probing for congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction with manually curved Bowman probes.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect of the shape of Bowman probes on the success of primary probing for congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction.


METHODS
Records of 42 nasolacrimal duct obstructions in 37 children who underwent probing with straight Bowman probes (group A) and 128 nasolacrimal duct obstructions in 110 children who underwent probing with Bowman probes manually bent to mimic the natural curve of the bony nasolacrimal pathway (group B) were evaluated and compared. All children were under 2 years of age. The main outcome was successful probing. Successful probing was defined as a complete resolution of signs and symptoms.


RESULTS
The mean age of the patients was 16.4 ± 4.1 months (range 8-24 months) in group A and 16.8 ± 4.2 months (range 7-24 months) in group B. No canalicular or nasolacrimal sac pathologies were diagnosed during probing. The success rate was 76.2% (32/42) in group A and 91.4% (117/128) in group B. The difference was statistically significant (P < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Manually curved probes can be used efficiently during probing and increase the success rates.
Eye Clinic, Haydarpasa Numune Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
Didem
D
Serin
Ibrahim Bulent
IB
Buttanri
Mehmet Sahin
MS
Sevim
Bahtinur
B
Buttanri
<2-year-old children; curved Bowman probe; nasolacrimal duct obstruction; success rate