A randomized control trial of surgical task performance in frontal recess surgery: zero degree versus angled...

The use of angled telescopes in frontal recess surgery has the theoretical advantage of improved visualization in areas characterized by reduced access such as the frontal recess. However, their use also is accompanied by the disadvantage of increased visuospatial distortion. To examine the surgical error and task performance of angled telescopes when compared with the use of the 0 degree telescope in frontal recess surgery, we carried out a surgical controlled trial on a cadaveric specimen. Ten surgeons performed randomly predetermined surgical tasks on both sides of the frontal recess. The surgical tasks were divided into three components (passing, grasping, and withdrawing) for analysis. Our study revealed significant difficulty passing instruments with the highly angled 70 degrees telescope as implied by the increased passing time ratio (p = 0.000). This was associated with significant risk of passing instruments blindly (p = 0.011), resulting in significant surgical error of hits to the middle turbinate (p = 0.005). This study also showed that use of less-angled telescopes (30 and 45 degrees) in frontal recess surgery does not appear to be associated with these risks.