Comparison of First 50 and Subsequent 74 Surgeries of Transcanalicular Laser Dacryocystorhinostomy Performed by a Surgeon Team

Purpose: To compare perioperative and postoperative outcomes of the first and following 50 cases of transcanalicular laser dacryocystorhinostomy performed by a surgeon team. Methods: Results of 124 eyes of 115 patients who had a diagnosis of distal obstruction of the lacrimal drainage system and underwent transcanalicular laser dacryocystorhinostomy procedures were retrospectively detected. Initial 50 eyes were considered as group 1; 74 following eyes were accepted as group 2. Groups were compared regarding age, gender, total surgical time, time for creation of osteotomy, pain score, bleeding score, anatomic and functional success rates. Results: The average total surgical time was 43.2 ± 6.0 minutes (range: 31 to 65 minutes) in group 1, and 30.0 ± 6.4 minutes (range: 21 to 57 minutes) in group 2 (p < 0.001). Laser osteotomy creation required 25.0 ± 4.2 minutes (range: 14 to 34 minutes) in group 1, and 14.6 ± 3.6 months (range: 9 to 28 minutes) (p < 0.001). Intraoperative pain and bleeding scores were significantly better in group 2 (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001 respectively). Success rate was 54.0% in group 1, and 85.1% in group 2 (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The results of current study clearly showed that increased experience of a surgeon results with improvement of better surgical outcomes. Initial studies about a novel technique should make clear if the study cases are the beginning cases of the authors.