A Follow-up Study of Endoscopic Sinus Surgery in Chronic Sinusitis-Assessment of Preoperative OMU-CT Gradings and Postoperative Follow-up Period-

Kim, Chong Nahm; Hong, Soon Kwan; Park, Mi Hyang

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Endoscopic sinus surgery has become an effective tool for the treatment of chronic sinusitis. The success of this procedure can be best determined by a long-term evaluation of the surgery results from patients who are grouped according to the prepoerative severity of the disease. In this study we attempted to evaluate the results of endoscopic sinus surgery according to the severity of the disease and the length of the follow-up period.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Questionnaires were sent out to 313 patients with chronic sinusitis who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery at our department from April 1992 to October 1995. Replies from 118 patients (37.69%) were analyzed. All patients had taken preoperative ostiomeatal unit computed tomography (OMU-CT) and their results were graded according to the Levine and May's grading system. The follow-up periods ranged from 7 to 51 months, with the mean of 27 months.
RESULTS
All nasal symptoms including nasal obstruction, rhinorrhea, postnasal drip, anosmia and headache significantly improved. The nasal obstruction symptom improved by 76.8%, rhinorrhea 62.1%, postnasal drip 64.4%, anosmia 50.0% and headache 80.0%. However, no statistical significance could be drawn between the improvement rate and the different lengths of the follow-up periods.
CONCLUSION
The results suggest that endoscopic sinus surgery might improve nasal symptoms in patients with chronic sinusitis regardless of the severity of disease and the length of follow-up period.