Clogged Tear Duct Surgery - any advice?

[dhano923]

My DD will be having the surgery for a clogged tear duct in a couple weeks. I know she will be under general anesthesia. I have to go in on Friday to sign all the consent forms, etc. The nurse told me that the procedure itself will only take 5 minutes, but the anesthesia will make the whole thing take a couple hours.

Has anyone gone through this, and how did it go? Are there any questions I should be asking? How long is the recovery time? Will her eye look bruised or anything?

I would appreciate any advice you ladies have to offer me!

[millerpjm]

We had to have this done for DS when he was just over a year old (which was 2 1/2 years ago, so I'm a little fuzzy on the details). If it's the same thing DS had, it's not even really "surgery" - they call it lacrimal probing. Basically, they go in and with the tiniest "wire" (for lack of a better term) and clean out the blockage - like a plumbing snake. DS didn't have any bruising...just a little bit of a bloody nose. He was a little groggy for a while, but we did it on a Friday and he was ready to rock 'n roll the next day.

The most nerve-wracking part of the whole thing will be when your DD is under the anesthesia, but our DS was back in our arms in about 20-30 minutes, if I recall correctly.

Good luck! I hope things go as smoothly for you as they did for us!

Jen

[Moneypenny]

We were ready to have this done right after DD turned 1, but then it opened on it's own so we didn't have to. The doc told us it was a very short procedure but they used full anesthesia just because you can't rely on a 1-year old to lay still while they poke the wire through the blockage. He said we'd have just about enough time to go get a cup of coffee after leaving her before they would call us back because she was done. He portrayed it as a very minor procedure, except for the anesthesia which would be as minimal as possible and I think he said DD would be back to herself that same day.
Susan
mama to my cutie pie, Avery
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[mamato1]

My boss's DD just had this done last week. It was a piece of cake. It really takes just a few minutes for the actual surgery. As soon as the anesthesia wears off your DD will be just like new. They told my bosss that the duct may bleed a little bit, but it never did.
HTH

edited for typos
Chris

Mama to Brendan, aka Boomer, my little peanut who is allergic to peanuts! 01/16/04


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[niccig]

DS had this done at 13 months, he's now 22 months. We were with him in pre-op and they gave me some medicine to give him to make him a little groggy so that he didn't get upset when he was taken away. It was 10 mins from him being taken out of my arms until he was back in them in the recovery room. The worst part for me was when he was waking up as he was disorientated. I was holding him, stroking his hair and talking to him. Once he realised I was there, he calmed down and was fine. We may have stayed in recovery for 60-90 mins. The nurse wanted to make sure he was not throwing up the clear liquid. He was starving, so she let us give him a little apple juice and said no more for a couple of hours. We only made it to the parking lot, DS was ravenous, he finished off the apple juice and kept signing for milk, so I fed him. You're not supposed to do that, but DS wasn't sick at all. By the time we got home, you would not have know that he had anything done. He played, ate all his lunch and had a nap, just like any other day.

They'll give you some ointment to put along the eye lid, DH and I had to do it together as DS is a squirmy worm.

I think it's harder on you than it probably will be for her.
Nicci

[kayte]

My daughter had this done a month or so ago. They didn't use any anesthesia--they just put her in a pampouse (sp?). She screamed bloody murder--We were in the next room. It was over in 5 minutes. She was upset for a few minutes, she slept all the way home in the car and was fine later that evening.

I am curious why they are using anesthesia. I realize the trade off is the crying but I think it's better than the drugs. They never brought the anesthesia option up to us.

[niccig]

I think it's so they don't move, the probing must feel uncomfortable. My DS was never fully under, our doctor said he would get just enough so they could do the procedure without having to tie him down.

Nicci

[Twins2000]

My DD underwent that procedure this past May when she was 11 months old (she was getting eye infection after eye infection so the MD felt it would be worse to wait). Everything worked out great! No bruising, no swelling that I could see.

The worst part was when she was coming out from under the anesthesia. As is normal for little munchkins (according to the Docs), she was half asleep/awake and crying, crying crying and squirming her little body all over the place. She just couldn't be comforted, so the nurse gave her a little something to "take the edge off." After that, she was just sleepy, but otherwise back to normal.

Ever since the procedure she has not had a single eye infection and no longer wakes up with goopy eye! Hurrayyy!

Good luck!


Leslie

[dhano923]

Thanks ladies! Even though the doctor told us it was a short, minor surgery, I'm still a little worried, but not as much as before. I will let everyone know how it goes after the surgery in a couple weeks.