Dacryocystorhinostomy with nasolacrimal duct prostesis.

For many years the standard surgical treatment for chronic dacryocystitis has been the anastomosis of the lacrimal sac mucosa to nasal mucosa over the margins of an ostium through the lacrimal bone. Failures of this standard procedure have been attributed to many factors and complications frequently require reoperation. The procedure described in this paper was developed as one means of overcoming some of these difficulties. It consists of the implantation of a specially shaped nasolacrimal duct prosthesis from the base of the sac through the interosseous canal into the inferior nasal meatus. This procedure gives reasonable assurance of permanent drainage and is recommended as a primary procedure of choice. The operation is described.