Symptoms of development and consequences of dacryocystitis

Dacryocystitis is a chronic, constantly recurring inflammation process that affects the lacrimal sac and its canals. In adults this disease is considered quite common and accounts for about 10% of cases of lacrimal disease. The consequences of dacryocystitis are more likely to concern female representatives. The disease can take an acute or chronic course, and its immediate etiological factors are trauma, obstruction of the nasolacrimal canals, infection of the eyes and its complications.

Inflammation of the lacrimal sac often develops in infants. This happens because of inferior development of lacrimal canals, which provokes the development of obstruction. Often the infection affects the child again and again, but as it grows the problem is spontaneously eliminated.

Dacryocystitis in adults develops as a complication in the damage or inflammation of the nasal passages and often even after the common cold with its incorrect treatment. But in most cases, the cause remains unclear.

The causes of the pathology of

The basis for the development of dacryocystitis, regardless of its shape, is the obstruction of the tear ducts. With the development of dacryocystitis in infants, the main cause is pathology in the development of nasolacrimal canals, a gelatinous film that has not been absorbed at the time of birth, or the presence of a too dense membrane of the epithelium in the distal section of the canal.

In an adult human dacryocystitis may be caused by stenosis or obliteration of the canalization channel, and usually develops due to swelling of nearby tissues in chronic rhinitis, acute respiratory viral infection, sinusitis, adenoids, nose fractures, lacrimal injury, eyelid injury, etc.

Tear fluid stasis provokes the loss of its antibacterial properties, which is complemented by the multiplication of pathogenic bacteria in the lacrimal sac. Over time, the walls of the lacrimal sac begin to stretch, and there is an acute or weakly inflammatory process of inflammation, namely, dacryocystitis. The fluid released by lacrimal sacs loses its activity, does not counteract bacterial infection and takes a mucus-purulent consistency.

Factors predisposing to the formation of dacryocystitis are deterioration in the work of immunity, diabetes mellitus, occupational negative factors and severe changes in ambient temperature.

Symptoms of the disease

In the first stages of development, dacryocystitis does not manifest itself sufficiently. Standard signs of the disease course are a tumor and a feeling of bursting in a lacrimal sac.

After a certain time, the incontinent lacrimation, a feeling of constant inconvenience and mild pain are added to the described symptoms. When squeezing the zone of the lacrimal sac, pus or mucous fluid may begin to appear from it. In the late stages of the progression of pathology due to constant lacrimation, the skin in the zone under the lacrimal sac turns red and becomes highly inflamed.

Without the organization of appropriate treatment in an adult, dacryocystitis alone does not pass, so there is a risk of an abscess - purulent tissue melting in the affected area. This is a serious pathology that causes a loss of vision or provokes the development of sepsis in the entire body of the patient.

The main signs of dacryocystitis include: incessant lacrimation, pain, redness and swelling in the inner corner of the eye, as well as mucopurulent discharge from the eye.

Diagnosis of the disease

The disease is diagnosed by external manifestations. The focus is on the severity of the inflammatory process - this helps to choose the right treatment tactics. The specialist can also organize a laboratory examination of the eye-detached in order to establish a specific causative agent of the disease.

Treatment of

The treatment of dacryocystitis should be related to the age group of the patient or to what course the disease process took - acute or chronic, as well as its underlying causes.

Babies with dacryocystitis are first shown with a massage of the lacrimal saccus to remove blockage of the nasolacrimal duct. Such treatment is supplemented with ointments that suppress the development of infections, and antibacterial drops. In the absence of expected results, the child may need to perform an operative intervention.

Before performing the surgery, a specialist appoints patients a massive antibacterial treatment so that the infectious complications of dacryocystitis can not subsequently manifest themselves, including complications from the brain, because the venous blood from the corner of the eye can penetrate into the cranial cavity. So, under certain conditions, there is a risk of a purulent form of encephalitis or an abscess of the brain.

If necessary, the patient undergoes general anesthesia, and the meaning of surgical intervention is to restore the full interaction between the nasal cavity and the cavity of the conjunctiva.

In an adult person, the patency of the nasolacrimal canals is often restored through the implementation of their forced washing with disinfectant solutions. In the situation when drug therapy is powerless in the fight against dacryocystitis, endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy is organized. In this case, the incisions are formed not from the side of the skin, but from the mucous membrane of the nasal cavity. More painful, but more reliable option in the absence of the necessary equipment is considered traditional dacryocystorhinostomy with the help of ordinary access. The result of the surgical intervention is the restoration of the normal course of the tear fluid.

Initiation and absence of treatment in the development of dacryocystitis is very dangerous, because it can provoke a complication of purulent dacryocystitis. Over time, the bacteria that led to the development of inflammation in the lacrimal sac, can penetrate beyond the boundaries of infection in the body. At the same time, the surrounding tissues are involved in the pathological process, so an abscess or phlegmon develops. To get rid of such consequences of dacryocystitis is very difficult, in this connection, it should be as soon as possible to begin its treatment.

Complications of the disease

Prolonged or chronic course of dacryocystitis may cause stretch in the lacrimal sac. Inflammatory process is able to transform into phlegmon or abscess. In turn, this complication often provokes melting of tissues, septic inflammation of the membranes of the brain. Such intimidating complications are found only in exceptional cases. But doctors prefer to be reinsured in advance and already at the first symptoms of the disease minimize the risk of any complications in the future.