My mother-in-law neglected the postoperative follow-up, and unexpectedly, the silicone tube broke off in the tear duct.

Thinking it would be easy to remove the silicone drainage tube inserted into her tear duct, my mother-in-law did not go to the hospital for a follow-up checkup and directly had the tube removed locally. Unexpectedly, a piece of the silicone tube was broken in her tear duct.

Three months ago, 59-year-old Grandma Yuan had a tear duct catheterization surgery at the Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University due to tearing problems. After the surgery, Grandma Yuan finally stopped crying. When she was discharged from the hospital, the doctor told her to have a follow-up check after three months. If the situation is good, the silicone tube needs to be removed.

It was mid-December, and Grandma Yuan, who was taking care of her grandson, thought it would be too troublesome to go back to Wuhan, so she underwent tube removal surgery there. Unexpectedly, after three hours of removal, the silicone tube in the tear duct was not completely removed, and a part of it was broken in the tear duct. A few days after the tube was removed, her eyelids and face became inflamed and swollen, and she began to tear, which was even more serious than before the surgery.

Frustrated, Grandma Yuan returned to Wuhan accompanied by her son. Zhang Jiang, director of the tear duct/eye and nose department of Wuhan University Aier Eye Hospital, found that Grandma Yuan's condition required incision of the tear duct and removal, followed by tear duct repair surgery. "The silicone tube inserted for you is a ring-shaped tube that supports the entire tear duct. It needs to be tied in the inferior nasal meatus to prevent it from falling out of the corner of the eye. The tube needs to be removed from the nasal cavity," said Zhang Jiang.

Last Friday, Zhang Jiang successfully found the broken artificial silicone tube in Grandma Yuan's tear duct and performed a nasal endoscopic lacrimal cystorhinostomy. The old lady is currently recovering well.