Bacteriology and antibiotic therapy in congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction.

AIMS: To determine the current bacteriology of mucopurulent discharge in congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction (CNDO), the in vitro response to different antibiotics and clinical effectiveness of the antibiotics used to relieve babies from mucopurulent discharge.

METHODS

A clinical study evaluated the effectiveness of local antibiotic agents clinically and in vitro. 50 samples were obtained from the lacrimal sac in 47 young children with CNDO. The patients' mean age was 21.45 +/- 17.09 months. The cultures were incubated and the infectious agents isolated. Sensitivity testing was performed in each case, testing 10 different local antibiotics. A control group of 10 babies expected for cataract surgery was constituted.

RESULTS

Cultures were positive for bacteria from 72.64% of the samples. 73 isolates were recovered from the 50 samples. The bacterial species most frequently cultured was Streptococcus pneumoniae, representing 35.4% of the isolates, followed by Haemophilus influencae (19.6%). The sensitivity testing revealed ofloxacin and tetracycline to be the most effective drugs as monotherapy. Clinically the combination of bacitracin and neomycin, primarily used in half of the patients as initial therapy, was successful in curing the dacryocystitis in 82.5% of all patients.

CONCLUSION

Chronic dacryocystitis due to CNDO is associated with an equal proportion of Gram positive and negative bacteria, which can be treated with a high effectiveness by a combination drug of bacitracin and neomycin.