Thursday, September 4, 2008

Abstract: Silicone plug aftermath

Only 17 eyes so I'm not personally inclined to take the stenosis bits as gospel truth. But the overall message seems to be that "silicone punctal plugs are good", i.e. reliably improving symptoms and not causing complications (other than spontaneously falling out sometimes). I sure won't argue with that. Probably everyone here knows how I feel about intracanalicular plug risks.

Long-term Follow-up of Punctal and Proximal Canalicular Stenoses After Silicone Punctal Plug Treatment in Dry Eye Patients.
Am J Ophthalmol. 2008 Aug 22.
Boldin I, Klein A, Haller-Schober EM, Horwath-Winter J.

PURPOSE: To determine the clinical value and relevance of punctal and proximal canalicular stenoses after punctal plug therapy in moderate to severe dry eye syndrome. DESIGN: Retrospective, observational case series.

METHODS: Seventeen eyes were determined to have punctum or proximal canalicular stenoses after spontaneous loss of a collared silicone punctal plug. After initial diagnosis all patients had 12 months or more of follow-up (mean, 39; range, 12 to 87 months). The clinical data collected included gender and age of patients, localization of the stenosis, plug size, duration of punctal occlusion, subjective symptoms, objective ocular surface disease parameters, and occurrence of complications.

RESULTS: A statistically significant correlation between localization of the stenosis and plug size, and localization of the stenosis and duration of punctal occlusion could not be found. At follow-up, subjective symptoms (P < .01) and frequency of artificial tear application (P < .001) were significantly reduced compared to data before plug insertion. Schirmer I test results (P < .001), corneal fluorescein staining (P < .01), and rose bengal staining (P < .001) improved significantly, whereas tear break-up time (P < .2) and impression cytology scores of the conjunctival surface (P = .2) remained almost unchanged. Complications could not be found.

CONCLUSION: Within the observation period of up to seven years, all stenoses remained asymptomatic. Additionally, subjective symptoms and most dry eye parameters in our study population improved.

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