Medical management of congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction.

A consecutive series of 113 infants seen with congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction were treated with local massage and topical antibiotic ointment. In 107 of the infants the obstruction was resolved within 8 months of initiation of this form of management. Nearly all of the infants were spared a surgical procedure that probably would have been performed if early probing of the nasolacrimal system had been advocated.