Measuring Tear Flow after Tear Duct Repair

Measuring the outflow of tears with the drop test from the surface of the eye in patients who have undergone tear duct repair

Status

Not yet recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12611000376943

Enrollment

Registered

2011-04-12

Start date

2011-05-10

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

When people damage their tear ducts through trauma or accident the patient may have a watery eye afterwards for the rest of their life. The doctor may decide to repair the tear duct but repairing the tear duct can be difficult and we are unsure how much function the tear ducts have after repair. We would like to measure how well the tear ducts work in patients who have undergone surgical repair. We have previously looked at healthy volunteers and have established what normal tear drainage should be, for comparison (reference in publication list below)

Interventions

Observational study with patients recruited over 1 year. Tear drainage is measured by the drop test. Measured aliquots of saline are placed on the ocular surface avoiding overflow for 3 minutes. After this period, any excess fluid is quantified. This test is performed 4 times, without punctal plugs, with both canaliculi occluded, and with one or other canaliculus occluded, in a randomised order.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 90 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Surgical repair of the eyelid with canalicular silicone stenting within the last 5 years

Exclusion criteria

Pre-existing dry eye or other anterior segment pathology Significant eyelid tissue loss during trauma Subsequent surgery on the tear drainage system (e.g DCR) Systemic disease preventing the patient from lying flat for the duration of the test.

Outcome results