Prevalence of pus in radiologically diseased sinuses in patients undergoing surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis.
OBJECTIVE
To establish the prevalence of pus in radiologically diseased sinuses in patients undergoing sinus surgery and to correlate this with the bacterial load in the sinuses.


METHODS
A prospective study performed on adult patients with the diagnosis of chronic sinusitis undergoing endoscopic sinus surgery at an Adelaide group of academic hospitals. In 45 consecutive and unselected patients, a radiologically diseased sinus was surgically opened, and a specially designed suction aspirator was placed into the sinus under endoscopic control. These aspirates were Gram stained and cultured to quantify the polymorphonuclear neutrophil count, bacterial flora, and bacterial colony count. The CT scans of all patients were graded by using the Lund-Mackay scoring system.


RESULTS
A variety of bacteria, most commonly staphylococci, were cultured from a radiologically diseased sinus in 88% of patients. There was no correlation between the bacterial colony count and presence of pus, and only 11% of patients had microscopic evidence of inflammation in sinus aspirates. There was no correlation between the Lund-Mackay CT score and the presence of pus in the sinus.


CONCLUSIONS
The majority of patients undergoing surgery for chronic sinusitis did not have a purulent exudate, and there was no correlation with the bacterial load. The usefulness of antibiotics in the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis, in the absence of macroscopic pus, is questionable.
Robinson
Simon
S
Department of Surgery-Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia.
Der-Haroutian
Vanik
V
Grove
David
D
Rees
Guy
G
Wormald
Peter John
PJ
D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010256:Paranasal Sinuses / Q000382:microbiology / Q000601:surgery; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000601:surgery*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012852:Sinusitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000601:surgery*; D013492:Suppuration / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome