AIM: To find an efficient and simple surgical procedure of the external dacryocystorhinostomy(EXT- DCR)in the treatment of chronic dacryocystitis.

METHODS: A total of 270 cases were performed in this retrospective study. A comparison of clinical effects and hemorrhage complications between the experimental group, in which 189 eyes of 167 patients that underwent traditional EXT-DCR without packing, and the control group, in which 121 eyes of 103 patients that underwent traditional EXT-DCR with Vaseline gauze were performed. The postoperative follow-up ranged from 6 to 36mo(the mean follow-up was 15±3.6mo).

RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the curative rates between the two groups(97.9% vs 97.5%, P>0.05). But the incidence rate of moderate or severe postoperative nasal bleeding was lower in the experimental group(15.9%, 30 eyes)than the control group(31.4%, 38 eyes)and P<0.01.

CONLUSION: The traditional EXT-DCR without packingis an effective procedure and is more effective in reducing moderate or severe postoperative bleeding when the intraoperative anastomose and the postoperative drainage are well done and the intraoperative bleeding is well controlled.