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Lacrimal sac: anatomy, location and function

The lacrimal sac is the upper dilated end of the nasolacrimal duct. It receives tears from the canaliculi and passes them to the nasolacrimal duct.

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Highlighted in the model: Lacrimal sac. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The model is an adult male.

Lacrimal sac at a glance

What it is
The lacrimal sac is the upper dilated end of the nasolacrimal duct.
Location
It sits in the fossa for the lacrimal sac, formed by the lacrimal bone and the frontal process of the maxilla, behind the medial palpebral ligament.
Function
It receives tears from the canaliculi and passes them to the nasolacrimal duct.
Body system
Eye & ear · paired (left and right)
FMA ID
FMA59546 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • Lies between the anterior and posterior lacrimal crests.
  • The lacrimal part of orbicularis oculi arises behind it and helps pump tears into the sac with each blink.

Clinical relevance

Infection of the sac is called dacryocystitis. A blocked nasolacrimal duct below it can be bypassed surgically by dacryocystorhinostomy.

Structures next to the lacrimal sac

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Lacrimal sac (FMA59546). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §14.1 Sensory Perception. Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.

Related anatomy

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.