Tailored endoscopic surgery for the treatment of sinonasal inverted papilloma

This retrospective study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of tailored endoscopic surgery. Tailored endoscopic surgery aims at resecting the inverted papilloma completely with a customized surgical approach, especially when an en-bloc excision cannot be comprehensively or routinely achieved because of the immense extent of the tumor.

Between November 1991 and March 2002, 43 patients with sinonasal inverted papillomas were treated by tailored endoscopic surgery. The average duration of follow-up for this population was 25.3 months (range, 9-150 months). A staging system developed by Krouse was adopted for tumor grading. On the basis of tailored endoscopic surgery, 15 localized lesions and 12 smaller extensive lesions (Krouse stages 1 and 2) were treated by ordinary endoscopic resection, whereas 16 larger extensive lesions (Krouse stages 3 and 4) in which the tumors were immense were subjected to sequential segmental endoscopic surgery (SSES). Seven of these 16 larger extensive lesions combined with endoscopic medial maxillectomy because of extensive encroachment of maxillary sinus antrum.

Four patients (9.3%) had residual disease, each requiring one revision surgery. All tumors were successfully resected. No patient required lateral rhinotomy or midfacial degloving procedure. No major complications were encountered in any of the patients. None of the patients had residual disease at the time of this writing.

Tailored endoscopic surgery is a safe and effective treatment that obviates the need for more extensive surgery for the management of inverted papilloma. Proper preoperative evaluations, intraoperative determination of extent and attachment of the tumor, close endoscopic follow-up, and expert application of endoscopic techniques are the keys to the successful use of tailored endoscopic surgery.