Does long-term success from endoscopic DCR correlate with early post-operative reduction in tearing?

The purpose of the study was to determine the association between early post-operative improvement in tearing and the long-term success rate of endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy (eDCR).

A retrospective review of consecutive patients who underwent eDCR and were followed up for at least 6 months at our institution from January 2010 to December 2017 was performed.

47 cases(39 patients) of eDCR met the inclusion and exclusion criteria during this time period. Mean follow up after the surgery was 12.5 ± 8 months. In 45 out of 47 (96%) cases post-operative improvement in epiphora within 2 weeks of surgery, or lack thereof, correlated with long-term success or failure of the procedure. There were only 2 cases in which the patients felt improvement in tearing at the initial post-operative visit and the tearing recurred in the late post-operative period (>6 months).

There is a strong association between the early initial post-operative assessment of tearing resolution and the long-term result of eDCR.