Tears are physiologically necessary to prevent the eye from drying out and to maintain its function. Tears are produced by the glands inside the eyelids and delivered to the nasal cavity through ducts. Blockage of this
canal causes watery eyes. We call this “epiphora”.
Typically in these patients, tears constantly flow outward. For years, eye surgeons have been reaching the tear duct by making an incision on the outside of the nose and breaking the bone tissue to treat this disease. This very old method has been used for more than fifty years. With the development of medicine and the use of angled endoscopes in surgeries, the tear duct has been easily reached through the nose. This
method, which does not require a skin incision and allows access to the tear duct through the nose, is called Endoscopic Endonasal Dacryocystorhinostomy.
In this surgery, in which 4 mm diameter telescopes are used, the tear sac is reached after the mucosa and bone tissue are passed and a new tear duct is formed. By opening the path, the channel blockage is bypassed. To prevent the opening from closing in a short time
, special thin tubes are placed in the tear duct for 4 to 8 weeks. The advantage of the endoscopic
technique is that there is no possibility of scarring since no skin incision is made. In external surgery, there is more tissue damage and the surgery takes longer. With the endoscopic technique, the function of the tear sac is not damaged and the patient is discharged on the same day. The success rate in opening the endoscopic tear duct is over 90%. During the day, our tears go to our nose and nasal passages through
channels, but we are not aware of this process. This process
is physiological. If the tear duct becomes blocked, eye watering begins.
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