title: Acute sinusitis. When--and when not--to prescribe antibiotics.
abstract: Clinical diagnosis of acute sinusitis is troublesome because it involves use of a cluster of diagnostic criteria that have only moderate sensitivity. Ancillary testing with radiography or antral puncture is impractical, expensive, and usually unnecessary in the primary care setting. Antibiotic therapy is not beneficial for most patients in whom acute sinusitis is suspected, even when radiographic abnormalities are found. Simple management algorithms and patient information are now available to aid primary care physicians in offering appropriate therapeutic measures and reassuring patients who are expecting "'a pill for every ill' when that pill is an antibacterial."
authors.affiliation: Providence Portland Medical Center, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine, Portland, OR, USA. james.leggett@providence.org
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Leggett
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012852:Sinusitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents