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Dacryocystectomy

Photo by Professor Chua, Dr. Koay Chiang Ling, Dr. Ngo Chek Tung and Dr. Ting Siew Leng

A 56 year-old was referred because of recurrent right mucocele following a severe road traffic accident 10 years ago in which he suffered multiple fractures involving the frontal bone and the orbit. His right eye was removed as it was ruptured beyond repair. The mucocele had been drained twice in the past via skin incisions. As the patient had no symptoms of epiphora, a dacryocystectomy was performed instead of dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) to prevent the possibility of any recurrences.

 

Right mucocele following road traffic accident 10 years ago.   An incision is made over the mucocele to expose the lacrimal sac.   To facilitate drainage, the mucocele was deflected by draining its content.   The lacrimal sac was removed by freeing it from the surronding tissue.   2 lacrimal probes were inserted to check that no lacrimal sac was left behind.   The removed sac.   The sac was bisected and the wall was noted to be thickened and there was a polyp within the sac.   The excess skin was excised and the wound was closed using mattress sutures.   Appearance of the face at one week post-operative.

Atlas of Oculoplastic Surgery