Nose sinus manometry in evaluating functional outcomes of anterior and posterior endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of anterior and posterior dacryorhinocystostomy (En-Dcr) by assessing the surgical outcome with a new objective technique, nose sinus manometry. Materials and methods: Thirty adult patients presenting nasolacrimal duct obstruction were enrolled in this study and randomly divided in two groups. In group A patients underwent anterior endonasal dacryorhinocystostomy, group B underwent the posterior approach. All patients were evaluated through Nose Sinus Manometry, endoscopic dye disappearance functional test (EDFT) and subjective assessment three months post-op. Pearson test and T-student Test were used for evaluations. Results: The mean differences in the pressure values were significantly different in the two groups of treatment, therefore, the patients of group B had strong improvement in pressure values compared with patients of group A. Conclusion: This study confirms a relevant physical distinction between posterior En-Dcr outcomes compared to anterior En-Dcr and reveals a significant success rate difference between the two groups of patients. The posterior surgical technique shows better results than the anterior one, by providing an almost physiological post- operative endonasal outcome. These results also showed the effectiveness of Nose Sinus Manometry in assessing the post- operative outcomes after En-Dcr.