Lacrimal syringing: attack the block

2 August 2024
Summer 2024
Public health

Now performed by more optometrists in practice, lacrimal syringing is one way of investigating blockages and treating epiphora.

Lacrimal syringing is the most frequently performed test in clinical practice to investigate whether blockages in the lacrimal ducts are the cause of epiphora (Nakamura et al, 2023). Other causes of excessive tear production are infection, inflammation, allergy, entropion, a foreign body in the eye or certain prescribed medications (such as pilocarpine), or the lacrimal pump mechanism may fail due to lid position abnormalities. In lacrimal syringing, sterile saline is pushed through a syringe into a cannula in the lower punctum.

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