TREATMENT OF DRY EYE BY BLOCKING THE LACRIMAL CANALICULI

Occlusion of the lacrimal canaliculi improves the objective signs and subjective symptoms of dry eye. In this review methods of occlusion ar e classified as surgical, thermal and tamponade. Surgical methods incl ude dacryocystectomy, canalicular ligature, canalicular offset, canali cular excision, transfer of the punctum to dry dock, punctal tarsorrha phy and punctal patch. Thermal methods include cautery, diathermy and laser burn. Tamponade methods use absorbable inserts of hydroxypropyl cellulose, gelatin, collagen and catgut, and nonabsorbable inserts of silicone (punctum plugs, canalicular plugs), polyethylene, cyanoacryla te, and others. The characteristics of all these methods are analyzed.