Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 3, 2026
Surgical Correction for Pediatric Epiblepharon and Trichiasis
Published on: July 8, 2025
Eyelid Lacerations Due to Dog Bite in Children
Purpose:
To evaluate the nature and extent of lacrimal apparatus injury in children after eyelid laceration from a dog bite.
Methods:
A retrospective chart review of all eyelid lacerations treated between 1990 and 2012 at Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, was conducted. Seventy-three patients who sustained an eyelid laceration due to dog bite were identified and were matched 5:1 with a randomly selected cohort of 365 patients from the group of 1,177 patients who had sustained eyelid lacerations from other causes during the same time period.
Results:
Of the 73 patients who sustained an eyelid laceration due to a dog bite, 26 (35.62%) had damage to the lacrimal apparatus. This was statistically significant when compared to patients who sustained eyelid lacerations from other causes, in which 13 (3.56%) patients had damage to the lacrimal apparatus (P < .000001). The inferior canaliculus was the most commonly involved site of lacrimal apparatus trauma as a result of a dog bite. Success was defined as lack of epiphora at the time of the last follow-up. Early surgical management of eyelid lacerations with lacrimal apparatus involvement had a success rate of 82%.
Conclusions:
Eyelid lacerations due to dog bites have a greater prevalence of involvement of the lacrimal apparatus and especially the inferior canaliculus than lacerations due to other causes in children. Clinicians should have a high index of suspicion for lacrimal apparatus involvement and be prepared for surgical repair, if indicated.
