title: The aspiration-irrigation maneuver.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare cultures obtained from the aspiration-irrigation maneuver (AIM) with other reports and compare diagnostic and therapeutic value after AIM versus the Proetz maneuver and needle aspiration-irrigation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with radiographic evidence (mucous membrane thickness greater than 6 mm, air-fluid levels, or complete opacification) and symptoms (nocturnal cough, fever, postnasal drainage [PND], otitis, mucopurulent discharge from the nose) of sinus disease who were referred from pediatrician and/or family physician and who otherwise would be candidates for surgery were selected to receive treatment with AIM. The study was divided into three separate groups (54 patients who were age 8 years and younger, 54 patients who were age 9 years and older, and 32 adult patients who were treated with both needle aspiration and AIM.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using Bernoulli's principle and the Venturi effect, saline and a vacuum apparatus were used to capture the contents of the sinuses for culture, and results were compared with results of needle aspirate cultures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children's cultures from group 1 compared favorably with the literature (Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, and Streptococcus pneumoniae or a combination of these); cultures in patients age 9 years and older revealed a greater variety of bacteria, depending on chronicity of infection, and a high incidence of Staphylococcus aureus (beta-lactamase positive). There was a 66% correlation of AIM with needle aspiration.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  AIM was found to be a safe, simple, painless, and inexpensive adjunct to the diagnosis and treatment of sinus disease.
authors.affiliation: Semo Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Inc., Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D010254:Paranasal Sinus Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D013048:Specimen Handling; D013396:Suction; D007507:Therapeutic Irrigation