Mucociliary clearance after external dacryocystorhinostomy

We investigated the nasal mucociliary clearance time in 17 patients who underwent a primary unilateral external dacryocystorhinostomy operation. Mucociliary clearance function in both nasal cavities was assessed with the saccharin test. The results were compared with each other using paired samples t-test. We found significantly worse mucociliary clearance time on the operated side (mean: 6.3 min) than on the non-operated side (mean: 5.5 min) (P = 0.004). External dacryocystorhinostomy negatively affected the mucociliary clearance function in this study.