Endonasal Dacryocystorhinostomy Outcomes: A Tertiary Center Study

March 22, 2026 Dr. Michael Lee – Health Editor Health

A comparative study conducted in central India has indicated similar success rates for endonasal dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) surgery, whether performed with or without stenting, for patients experiencing chronic dacryocystitis due to nasolacrimal duct obstruction.

The research, carried out between October 2021 and September 2022, involved 60 patients over the age of 18. Patients with a history of previous DCR or sinonasal disease were excluded from the study. The surgeries were performed by a single senior surgeon using zero-degree and 45-degree endoscopes with an Olympus camera and monitor. Participants were divided into two groups of 30: one receiving a silicon stent (Prison silicone nasolacrimal duct stent) and the other undergoing the procedure without stenting.

Follow-up evaluations were conducted at three, six, and twelve months post-surgery. At the six-month mark, a 90% success rate was observed in the stented group, compared to 93.3% in the non-stented group. This difference was not statistically significant (p-value 0.64). The same lack of significant difference persisted at twelve months, with success rates of 80% and 76.6% respectively (p-value 0.71).

Endoscopic examination at the twelve-month follow-up revealed a patent rhinostomy opening in 93.3% of patients who had been stented and 90% of those who had not. The study, published in Cureus, concludes that stenting does not significantly alter the outcome of endonasal DCR for chronic dacryocystitis.

Separate research suggests that early endonasal DCR may be a favorable approach for managing acute dacryocystitis, potentially reducing the time to resolution of symptoms compared to delayed procedures. A meta-analysis published in PubMed in December 2023, encompassing six studies and 288 patients, found comparable efficacy between early and delayed endonasal DCR, but indicated a significant reduction in the time for medial canthus swelling resolution and complete symptom relief with the early intervention.