Postoperative Mucoceles of Frontal, Ethmoid, or Sphenoid Sinus

Park, Hyung Wook; Lee, Bong Jae; Jang, Yong Ju; Chung, Yoo Sam

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Incidences of postoperative mucoceles of the frontal, ethmoid, or sphenoid sinuses are currently on the rise. The clinical rogression of the postoperative mucoceles in the frontal, ethmoid, or sphenoid sinuses are different from that of the maxillary mucoceles. In this study, we investigated the clinical patterns and treatments of postoperative mucoceles, which have developed in the frontal, ethmoid, or sphenoid sinuses.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Between June,1994 and August, 2005, twenty-six patients with thirty postoperative mucoceles were treated surgically. They had a previous history of operation and incidences of maxillary mucoceles were excluded from the study. A review of the clinical subjects were performed using their clinical records and radiological findings.
RESULTS
The locations of the postoperative mucoceles were, in the order of frequency, the ethmoid, frontal, fronto-ethmoid, spheno- ethmoid, sphenoid, and fronto-ethmoidsphenoid sinus. Postoperative mucoceles occurs mostly in the form of ophthalmic symptoms and headache. The ophthalmic manifestations were different between the anterior, posterior and the antero-posterior mucocele group. The mean duration until diagnosed as postoperative mucocele since the previous sinus surgery was 9.9 years, and endoscopic sinus surgeries and intranasal ethmoidectomies with Caldwell-Luc operations were the majority among previous surgeries. Most postoperative mucoceles could be successfully treated with an endoscopic marsupialization.
CONCLUSION
Frontal, ethmoid, or sphenoid postoperative mucoceles developed mostly on the ethmoid sinus and occurs mainly in the form of ophthalmic symptoms. Most postoperative mucoceles were successfully treated with an endoscopic marsupialization.