Endoscopic treatment of sinonasal disease in patients who have had orthognathic surgery

Certain skeletofacial patterns may be predisposed to aggravated sinonasal disease postoperatively. These may include, but are not limited to, facial skeletal asymmetries with high septal deviations and those with obstructive nasal respiration and mouth breathing that leads to skeletal growth disturbances such as vertical maxillary hyperplasia and apertognathism. These sinonasal diseases may partly be the result of osteomeatal blockage by pre-existing structures, or synechial shelves and webs blocking normal maxillary antral mucosal flow. The use of nasal antral windows placed anteriorly in the lateral nasal wall at the time of downfracture LeFort (Hosaka window) do not seem to benefit the drainage of the maxillary antrum. This is because physiological flow often bypasses this region. If patients present postoperatively with new sinonasal disease or the aggravation of pre-existing symptoms, evaluation by both endoscopically assisted intranasal and axially and coronal computed tomography (CT) is recommended. Functional endoscopic sinus surgery by the minimally invasive Messerklinger technique, combined with intranasal use of laser-assisted turbinoplasty and soft tissue lysis, have been successfully used for most of these patients. Because the anatomical positioning of the midfacial structure can potentially affect patients with a predisposition to sinonasal physiological disturbances, consideration should be given to preoperative evaluation and discussion of potential consequences.