[Intranasal endoscopy-controlled surgery of the frontal sinus in mucopyocele and empyema]

Twenty-six patients diagnosed as having mucopyoceles or empyemas of the frontal sinus were submitted to endoscopy-aided endonasal surgery of the anterior ethmoid and the adjacent frontal sinus between April 1989 and July 1991. Eighteen patients followed-up for a period exceeding the 3 months normally required for wound healing are presented (follow-up 3-22 months, mean 11 months). The subjective assessment of the patient was good to excellent in 16 cases. Two of these patients refused endoscopic follow-up, since they felt so well that they saw no need for it. At endoscopy, the frontal sinus was highly accessible in 5 patients, while in another 8 patients with a smaller frontal ostium it was possible to explore it adequately. Two patients in whom symptoms persisted had to be submitted to transfacial revisional surgery. An increasing percentage of patients with inflammatory frontal sinus disease can be treated by endoscopic endonasal surgery followed by thorough endoscopic aftercare.