Medical and psychological aspects of the treatment of connatal dacryostenosis : Parental evaluation of their own and their child's stress

Lacrimal probing and syringing for connatal dacryostenosis can be performed under local (LA) and general anesthesia (GA). In cases of invasive medical procedures, pain and anxiety can be distressing for children and their parents. Using questionnaires (n = 65), parents were asked to evaluate their own stress and that of their child during lacrimal probing and syringing. Analyzing different subgroups, the impact of the kind of anesthesia (LA vs. GA), trust in medical treatment, therapeutic success, prior experiences with GA, parental educational level, age of parents and children, number of children, and time between the intervention and the interview on the stress was examined. Stress level was evaluated on a scale from 1 (no stress) to 10 (maximal stress). Mean children's age was 8.5 ± 7.42 months. Mean age of the parents was 30.8 ± 6.17 years. Treating children under LA, parents reported moderate to severe stress levels for themselves (mean, M = 7.15) and for their children (M = 7.82). Children's stress levels were significantly higher when the treatment was performed under LA (n = 47; M = 7.34) in comparison to GA (n = 18; M = 6.06; p