Outcomes of endoscopic sinus surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis associated with sinonasal polyposis

The aim of this study was is to investigate the outcomes of endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) when performed for chronic rhinosinusitis associated with sinonasal polyps.

Forty-three patients with polyps were compared with 76 patients without polyps before and after ESS. Mean follow-up was 1.5 years. Patients were analyzed prospectively based on computed tomography (CT), endoscopy, quality-of-life (QOL) assessment, and visual analog scales (VASs). Univariate analyses were performed to evaluate whether the presence of polyps was predictive of outcome.

Patients with polyps had worse CT and endoscopy scores both pre- and postoperatively when compared with patients without polyps (p < 0.0001 for each). All patients, regardless of polyps, improved on endoscopic exam; however, patients with polyps showed a greater degree of improvement (p = 0.002). Despite this, postoperative endoscopic scores in patients with polyps were worse than those without polyps (p < 0.0001). Patients with polyps had better QOL as measured by the Chronic Sinusitis Survey (CSS) both pre- and postoperatively (p = 0.001 and 0.044, respectively). The preoperative VAS indicated that patients with polyps had increased nasal obstruction compared with patients without polyps (p = 0.002) while having less facial pain and headache (p = 0.002 and 0.005, respectively). Patients with polyps showed a greater postoperative improvement in nasal congestion (p = 0.003) but no difference in level of improvement in postoperative headache or pressure.

Despite significantly worse objective testing scores, patients with polyps report significantly better QOL as measured by the CSS and less facial pain/headache as measured by VAS scores pre- and postoperatively. Polyps were not found to be predictive of QOL or endoscopic outcome.