Changes in nasal flora one year after endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy

Purpose: This study investigated changes in patient nasal and conjunctival flora one year after endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy (EDSR). Methods: The prospective study included 20 patients that underwent EDSR due to chronic dacryocystitis. Conjunctival and nasal cultures were obtained one year after EDSR from both study and control groups. Patient characteristics, chronic illnesses, the severity and duration of complaints, culture results, and the stent removal time were recorded and analyzed. Results: In the study group, the most commonly isolated microorganism in the nasal cultures was coagulase-negative staphylococcus (n = 11), and the second most commonly isolated microorganism was Staphylococcus aureus (n=7). A total of 11(55%) of the nasal cultures in the study group showed the presence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria, as did 2(10%) of the nasal cultures in the control group (p = 0.007). Conclusions: One year after EDSR surgery with silicon stent placement, we detected changes in the nasal flora in the operated side compared with the non-operated side. Even though more than half of the nasal cultures in the study group were positive for MDR bacteria, these microorganisms did not cause attacks of dacryocystitis or affect surgical success.