Silicone intubation for obstruction of the nasolacrimal duct in children.

We performed 63 intubations with silicone tubing for nasolacrimal duct obstruction in children in whom nasolacrimal duct probings had failed. Fifty-nine (93.7%) obstructions were congenital and four (6.3%) were acquired. The average length of intubation was 4.3 months. The final results for both congenital and acquired obstructions combined were good in 52 cases (82.5%), fair in three (4.8%), and poor in eight (12.7%). Complications, with the exception of some with infection, were easily treated or minimal and did not affect the outcome significantly. We recommend silicone intubation as the procedure of choice for congenital or acquired nasolacrimal duct obstructions in children after failure of medical therapy and nasolacrimal duct probings.