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Impact of habitual swimming on the success of lacrimal surgery

  • Clinical Investigation
  • Published:
Japanese Journal of Ophthalmology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To elucidate how factors associated with swimming affect the lacrimal ducts of swimmers.

Study design

Prospective, interventional cohort study,

Methods

Five hundred seventy four consecutive epiphora patients were surveyed via a questionnaire regarding details of their swimming-pool usage; i.e., frequency, swim-goggles’ wear, and type of pool activity (i.e., swimming vs. waist-depth walking). In this cohort, all the swimmers over 20 years old with anatomical lacrimal duct obstruction underwent surgical reconstruction. The surgical success rates at 12-months postoperative were compared using multivariable logistic regression analyses between swimmer/non-swimmer patients, those with a history of high/low frequency of pool usage, and those with high/low amount of conjunctival contact with the swimming-pool water.

Results

Of the patients with anatomical lacrimal duct obstruction, 6.4% were habitual swimmers; nasolacrimal duct obstruction was more common in the swimmers than in the non-swimmers’ controls (89.1%/66.7%, P = 0.025). The success rate of lacrimal surgery for the swimmers with anatomical nasolacrimal duct obstruction was lower (60.6%) than of the non-swimmers (83.3%, P = 0.048). A receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of the frequency for the prediction of surgical failure showed that the threshold was 4 days/week. The success rate was statistically lower (26.7%) in the high-frequency swimmers compared to the low-frequency swimmers (88.9%, P = 0.037). However, no statistical difference in the high/low ocular surface contact to the swimming-pool water was observed (71.4%/57.7%, P = 0.56).

Conclusion

Habitual swimmers have a high risk of nasolacrimal-duct damage retrogradely from the nasal cavity that lowers lacrimal surgery's success rate.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank John Bush for reviewing the manuscript.

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka Medical College, 2-7 Daigaku-machi, Takatsuki, Osaka, 569-8686, Japan

    Masashi Mimura, Yohei Sato, Yasushi Fujita, Hidehiro Oku & Tsunehiko Ikeda

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka Kaisei Hospital, Osaka, Japan

    Masashi Mimura & Bunpei Sato

Authors
  1. Masashi Mimura
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  2. Yohei Sato
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  3. Yasushi Fujita
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  4. Hidehiro Oku
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  5. Bunpei Sato
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  6. Tsunehiko Ikeda
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Masashi Mimura.

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Conflicts of interest

M. Mimura, None; Y. Sato, None; Y. Fujita, None; H. Oku, None; B. Sato, None; T. Ikeda, None.

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Corresponding author: Masashi Mimura

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Mimura, M., Sato, Y., Fujita, Y. et al. Impact of habitual swimming on the success of lacrimal surgery. Jpn J Ophthalmol 65, 849–854 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10384-021-00865-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10384-021-00865-1

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