Numerous designs of punctal and canalicular plugs are available on the market. This variety presents challenges to ophthalmologists when choosing punctal plugs for the management of various ocular conditions. The aim of this literature review is to provide a classification system for lacrimal occlusive devices based on their location and duration of action as well as to identify different characteristics of each one of them. We want to give a comprehensive overview on punctal and canalicular plugs including their manufacturing companies, indications, and complications that have been reported in various articles. PubMed and Google Scholar were used to identify articles written in English as well as few articles written in Japanese, Chinese, Slovak, and Spanish that had abstracts in English. Nine different companies that manufacture punctal and canalicular plugs were identified and their plugs were included in this review. Punctal and canalicular plugs are used in the management of various ocular conditions including dry eye disease and punctal stenosis as well as in ocular drug delivery. Although they are a relatively safe option, associated complications have been reported in the literature such as infection, allergic reaction, extrusion, and migration.
Purpose: To report the clinicopathologic correlation and biochemical analysis of silicone oil removed after 23 years in an eye.Methods: A 63-years-old man with a history of HIV/AIDS and cytomegalovirus retinitis, status post retinal detachment repair with silicone oil at the age of 39 years, presented with several weeks of worse vision. He was found to have a shallow fovea-off tractional retinal detachment. After the silicone oil was removed during retinal detachment repair, it was analyzed by Fouriertransform infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry.Results: In addition to cyclic and linear silicone oil, cholesterol was found in the removed silicone oil, which was not present in unused silicone oil samples. No other chemical alterations were identified in the extracted silicone oil.Conclusion: Silicone oil left inside an eye over an extended period may extract lipophilic substances from adjacent tissue, with possible pathophysiologic effects. However, no other major potentially toxic substance was identified from the long-standing silicone oil sample, suggesting relative chemical stability of the tamponade agent over time.
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