[Results and complications of bicanalicular intubation in external dacryocystorhinostomy]

To analyze the success rate and complications in patients with lacrimal obstruction submitted to surgeries.

The data of patients operated in the "Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual of São Paulo" were analyzed. The lacrimal intubation was performed with a silicone tube, removed after 8 weeks. Surgeries were considered successful in those cases where patients had no postoperative epiphora or ocular secretion, and with a good passage of fluid to the nose or oropharynx. The complications related to the silicone tube were grouped in a table.

The patients were operated from April 2002 to July 2006 with an average follow-up period of three months. In a total of 65 eyes, success was obtained in 89.2% of the cases. Seven patients presented postoperative epiphora, and 5 of them were reoperated. In 7 eyes there was an extrusion of the silicone in less than 15 days from surgery, and in this group one patient needed a reoperation. Six eyes presented complications with the silicone: tube prolapse (4 cases), granuloma formation in the nasal cavity (1 case) and lacrimal puncta adhesion (1 case).

This group of patients presented a high success rate with Ex-DCR surgery associated with lacrimal intubation. The intraoperative intubation with silicone tube is not free of complications.