BLOCKED TEAR DUCT SURGERY -DACRYOCYSTORHINOSTOMY (DCR)
Tear duct surgery, also known as dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR), restores the flow of tears by creating a new drainage passage into the nose.
The procedure is highly effective and holds a success rate between 82-96%.
If you suffer from abnormal watery eyes (epiphora), you could have a blocked tear duct. This usually comes with frequent eye infections and sticky discharge.
THE NORMAL TEAR DUCT PATHWAY
Usually, tears wash away debris from the eye and are drained away into the nose using two ports (or ‘punctae’) located in the inner corner of the upper and lower eyelids.
Blinking pushes tears into these openings. From there, the tears empty into a short horizontal drainage canal (the canaliculus) that leads to a drainage sac located deep under the skin at the inner corner of the eye.
The lacrimal sac drains downwards (via the nasolacrimal duct), which goes deep around bony structures surrounding your nose and ends up into the nasal cavity itself.

Written by Dr Osama Bahsas Zaky
Updated on October 28, 2021