title: Assessment of patient satisfaction following external versus transcanalicular dacryocystorhinostomy with a diode laser and evaluation if change in quality of life after simultaneous bilateral surgery in patients with bilateral nasolacrimal duct obstruction.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare patient satisfaction and experience after external dacryocystorhinostomy (EX-DCR) versus transcanalicular DCR (TC-DCR) with a diode laser and to evaluate the change in quality of life following simultaneous bilateral DCR.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective evaluation of 38 eyes of 19 patients with bilateral nasolacrimal duct obstruction (NLDO) who underwent TC-DCR for the right eye (Group 1) and EX-DCR for the left eye (Group 2) simultaneously. The subjective outcomes (tearing, irritation, pain, discharge, swelling, and change in visual acuity) of the patients in the two groups at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months were compared using a questionnaire. The patients answered the questions in the Glascow Benefit Inventory (GBI) to evaluate the change in quality of life after simultaneous bilateral DCR at 1 month and 3 months. The symptom scores were compared between Group 1 and Group 2 using a Mann-Whitney test. The Wilcoxon test was used for the comparison of intragroup differences.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall symptom scores significantly improved in both groups. The overall symptom score and six ocular symptom scores did not show a significant difference between the two groups at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months. Quality of life of the patients significantly improved after simultaneous bilateral surgery according to GBI scoring at 1 month and 3 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The subjective outcomes significantly improved in similar ways after successful TC-DCR and EX-DCR during the early postoperative period. Our study shows that simultaneous bilateral DCR confers a significant quality of life improvement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey. byeniad@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Baris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yeniad
authors.forename: Gunay
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Uludag
authors.forename: Lale
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kozer-Bilgin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003608:Dacryocystorhinostomy / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007767:Lacrimal Duct Obstruction / Q000523:psychology; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D054023:Lasers, Semiconductor / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009301:Nasolacrimal Duct / Q000601:surgery*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult