A comparative study between the anterior flap technique of dacryocystorhinostomy with and without silicone intubation

Dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) is a surgery in which a direct communication is made between the lacrimal sac and the nasal cavity through a bony ostium to bypass an obstruction in the nasolacrimal duct (NLD) and therefore facilitate tear drainage. There are two main types of DCR: external and endonasal. The external DCR is the gold standard procedure and the most preferred to treat primary acquired NLD obstruction (NLDO), with a reported success rate that reaches up to 97%.

This retrospective cohort study was carried out to assess the functional and anatomical success rates of DCR done at a tertiary eye care hospital between 2017 and 2023, determined by patency on syringing and/or negative fluorescein dye disappearance test, and Munk's score of zero to one.

Clinical records of five hundred and one patients who underwent DCR surgery between 2017 and 2023 were reviewed, of which a hundred and seventy-seven records were included in this study. Children <12 years of age, patients with canalicular or common canalicular obstruction, patients who underwent repeat surgery in failed DCR, and patients with secondary NLDO were excluded.

No statistically significant difference was found between the success rate of the anterior flap technique of DCR with or without silicone intubation. Overall, the functional success and the anatomical success of DCR were found to be 87.6% and 89.8%, respectively, which were similar to the other studies published in the literature.

No statistically significant difference was found between the success rate of the anterior flap technique of DCR with or without silicone intubation.