title: Pre- and postoperative mucociliary clearance in functional endoscopic sinus surgery.
abstract: The advent of functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) has revolutionized the treatment of chronic sinusitis over the last decade. Although it has been well-established that FESS is more efficacious than conventional surgery, the lack of a quantifiable means of assessing results remains one of the major shortcomings of the technique, and hence a source of criticism. Since the pathophysiology of chronic sinusitis is intimately related to the mucociliary mechanism of the nose and sinuses, it seems logical to use this parameter as a yardstick of success. We undertook a prospective, controlled study of 40 patients and measured their "saccharin times" before and after surgery. The results show a marked reduction in clearance times postoperatively, corresponding well with improvement in symptom profile. We therefore propose this technique as a simple, safe and reliable method of assessing the results of surgery. Furthermore, the method could act as a preoperative indicator of ciliary motility disorders, as the prognosis in these patients is distinctly poor.
authors.affiliation: Department of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery, Tyrone County Hospital, Omagh, Northern Ireland, U.K.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kaluskar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009079:Mucociliary Clearance; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012852:Sinusitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*