Blocked Tear Duct/Dacryostenosis Diagnosis

Blocked Tear Duct Diagnosis

A patient's medical history and physical examination of the eye help to diagnose blocked tear duct.

The following tests help confirm the diagnosis of blocked tear duct -

• Tear Drainage Test (fluorescein dye disappearance test) - Special eye stain (fluorescein dye) is used to test how the tears are draining. One drop of the dye is placed in each eye. If there is a significant amount of dye in the eye after five minutes of normal blinking, it indicates that the person may have a blocked tear duct.

• Irrigation and Probing - The doctor may flush a saline solution through the tear drainage system to check how it drains, or use a probe to check for blockages.
• Eye imaging tests (dacryocystography or dacryoscintigraphy) - X-ray, computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images are taken after a contrast dye is passed from the puncta in the corner of the eye through the tear drainage system. The location and cause of the blockage can be found by these techniques.(4^✔ ✔Trusted Source
  Blocked Tear Duct - Overview
  
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