A congenital external lacrimal sac fistula opens from the lacrimal sac or duct into the skin near the inner corner of the lower eyelid. It is considered a relatively rare condition. We encountered a case where the fistula recurred following a resection-only fistulectomy. The fistula was subsequently removed by ligating the stump in our department. The patient has remained recurrence-free.
Complete removal of the fistula duct is generally required to treat this condition; however, the necessity of ligating the stump remains to be elucidated. In this study, we compared the recurrence rates of this condition using studies reported in Japan and overseas. We found no significant difference in recurrence rates between ligation and resection alone.
