Usefulness of local postoperative care after laser dacryocystorhinostomy

Epiphora caused by nasolacrimal drainage system obstruction is the main indication for dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR). So are chronic conjunctivitis and dacryocystitis from the same origin. Nasal endoscopy and the introduction of laser assisted DCR have facilitated the performance of the technique. However, it requires complex and expensive equipment, so there are still supporters of the traditional external procedure. The aim of this work was to study the effectiveness and usefulness of local postoperative care in laser DCR final result.

We studied a group of 96 patients diagnosed with epiphora secondary to stenosis-occlusion of the nasolacrimal duct. Of these, 32 patients underwent surgery in both eyes, making a total of 128 cases. The surgery was performed in a private setting between January 1999 and December 2008. The 128 cases were divided into 2 groups: 59 cases in which between 4 and 6 postoperative cures were given in the 2 months following the surgery, and another group of 69 cases in which a single cure was given approximately 7 days after surgery. The final assessment of the outcome of the intervention was done in all cases between 24-30 months after surgery.

In 27 cases out of 128 (79% success), there was a restenosis of tear drainage. No statistically significant differences were found between the 2 groups.

In the sample of patients that were intervened using laser assisted DCR, implementation of postoperative cure was irrelevant in the success of the intervention.