External DCR surgery?

A small incision is made on the side of your nose to gain access to the tear sac. A small piece of bone is removed from the side of your nose to expose the inner lining of the nose. The tear sac is opened, and an opening is also made in the inner lining of the nose. The tear sac is stitched to the inner lining of your nose allowing direct passage of tears from the tear sac into your nose, bypassing the blocked tear duct. A tiny silicone stent (also referred to as ‘tubes’) is used to keep the bypass channel open while the tissues heal. The skin wound is closed with very fine stitches. The whole operation takes about 60 to 90 minutes. Most patients prefer to have a general anaesthetic (be put to sleep) but the operation can be performed under local anaesthetic (where you are awake and given injections to numb the side of your nose and inner corner of your eye). The stitches are removed seven to ten days after surgery and the small scar that results is usually imperceptible within three months. The stent is normally removed about six weeks after the operation in a simple out-patient procedure which involves cutting the loop of the stent in the inner corner of the eye and retrieving the stent from inside the nose after spraying the nose with local anaesthetic. The silicone ‘tubes’ are barely noticeable in the inner corner of the eyelids and rarely irritate. Whilst the stent is in place you may experience a slight overflow of tears, which should improve once it is removed.