Treatment of upper and lower eyelid injuries concerning the lacrimal duct system with a silicon intubation

Background. Treating injuries of the lacrimal system with a silicon intubat ion is an approved method to prevent post-traumatic epiphora. Materials and methods. Between 1990 and 1999, operations were carried out o n 44 patients with injuries of the canaliculi with silicon ring intubations . Interesting for us were the age distribution, causes of injuries, localis ation and mid- to long-term postoperative complications. Results. The age of the patients was between 1.75 and 74 years, 48% of the injuries were caused by household accidents, 23% by violence, 20% by traffi c accidents and 9% by job-related accidents. The canaliculus inferior was i njured in 68% of all patients. We found 10 postoperative complications, e.g . ectropia, a too long silicon ring or granuloma. We found a positive anato mical readapted lacrimal system in 88% and 12% of our patients complained o f distinct to severe epiphora. Conclusions. The treatment of lacrimal laceration with a silicon intubation is an excellent method but special care should be taken with correct posit ioning of the lid margin.