Prospective Randomized Comparison of Dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) with and without intubation

Objectives: To compare Dacryocystorhinostomy ( DCR) with and without intubation and see, their success rate, surgical duration, cost and postoperative complications. Design: Prospective, randomized, hospital based study. Place and duration: D.H.Q Hospital Lakki Marwat from January 2000 to September 2002. Methods: Eighty traditional external DCR procedures with and without intubation were performed. Patients were randomly divided into two groups of 40 cases in each group. Group “A” was labeled as DCR with intubation and Group “B” as DCR without intubation. All the patients were followed for 1 year. Surgical duration, postoperative complications and the success rates were compared. Results: The success rates at one year after surgery was 97.5 % for DCR with intubation and 95 % for DCR without intubation ( not significant). The surgical duration for DCR without intubation was 45 minutes (shorter) and that for DCR with intubation 55 minutes (longer). DCR with intubation was more costly as compared to that without intubation. Conclusions: External DCR without intubation yielded equally good results as DCR with intubation. Both procedures were associated with minimal complications. DCR without intubation costs an extra amount of rupees 1800.