AIM: To compare the therapeutic effects of lacrimal duct retrograde catheterization, double loop antegrade catheterization, and lacrimal duct U-shaped catheter for patients with lacrimal duct obstruction.

METHODS: Totally 108 patients with lacrimal duct obstruction who were treated in our hospital from July 2015 to June 2018 were selected as subjects and prospectively studied. They were randomly divided into three groups: A(36 cases), B(36 cases), and C(36 cases). In group A, lacrimal duct retrograde catheterization was performed. Group B was treated with double-loop antegrade catheterization. Group C was treated with lacrimal duct U-shaped catheterization. All patients were followed up for 6mo. The intraoperative basic conditions(Lntraoperative blood loss, operation time, hospital stay), treatment efficacy, and the occurrence of complications and recurrence of lacrimal duct obstruction of the three groups were compared.

RESULTS: There were significant differences in the amount of intraoperative blood loss, operation time and hospital stay between the three groups(P<0.05). The total effective rate of treatment in group A was 91.7%, which was lower than 94.4% in group B and 97.2% in group C, but the difference in total effective rate between the three groups was statistically significant(P>0.05). The complication rate was 11.1% in group A, 5.6% higher than that in group B, and higher than 2.8% in group C(P=0.010). The recurrence rate of lacrimal duct obstruction in group A was 9.1%, higher than 5.9% in group B, higher than that in group C(P=0.029).

CONCLUSION: Retrograde catheterization of the lacrimal duct, double-loop antegrade catheterization, and lacrimal duct U-shaped tube for the treatment of patients with lacrimal duct obstruction have higher therapeutic effects, postoperative complications and less recurrence of lacrimal duct obstruction, but lacrimal passage Retrograde catheterization can reduce the amount of intraoperative blood loss, operation time, and U-shaped catheterization of the lacrimal duct can reduce the length of hospital stay, and can be widely used in clinical practice.