DELAYED PRESENTATION OF EPIPHORA IN PAEDIATRIC POPULATION

Objectives: To find out the different causes of delayed presentation the paediatric age groups Methods: It is Observational cross-sectional study, conducted at Ophthalmology Department, XYZ from December 2021 to May 2022. Fifty patients of either gender with congenital epiphora were enrolled in the study. Patients with other causes of increased lacrimation except nasolacrimal duct blockage were excluded. Verbal consent was taken and all the parents were interviewed. All the causes of delayed presentation were noted. Results: among 50 patients, 30 (60 %) were male and 20 (40%) were female. 15 (30 %) had right epiphora, 21 (42 %) had left epiphora while 14 (28%) had bilateral epiphora. Frequency of visits was also noted. Multiple reasons of delayed presentation were identified including parent’s delay being the most common causes in 22 (44%) patients. Other causes were doctor’s delay in 16 (32 %) patients, medical mismanagement in 5 (10 %) and lack of education in 4 (8 %) patients. Conclusion: This study states that parents neglect is the foremost and commonest cause of late of patients with congenital nasolacrimal duct blockage. Key words: epiphora , delayed presentation , neglect , nasolacrimal duct blockage .