DACRYOCYSTORHINOSTOMY IN INFANTS AND CHILDREN

DACRYOCYSTORHINOSTOMY in adults has become the procedure of choice for the cure of chronic dacryocystitis, mucocele, and epiphora. The marked trend from dacryocystectomy to dacryocystorhinostomy is due to the high percentage of successes of the latter in relieving the purulent discharge and tearing. There is apparently no reason for any other procedure being performed for these conditions so long as at least one canaliculus is patent. Age is not a contraindication. Rychener1has employed this operation on patients from the age of 18 months to 72 years. I have performed the operation for the relief of recurrent acute dacryocystitis in a patient 80 years of age. The need for dacryocystorhinostomy in young children has been mentioned only in the recent literature. Redmond2reported its use bilaterally in a 3-year-old child, with success, and Aalde,3in a 3-month-old boy. Simpson4successfully performed dacryocystorhinostomy on a 7-year-old boy