Postoperative antibiotic care after functional endoscopic sinus surgery

Antibiotics are used routinely in the postoperative care of functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS), but their efficacy has not been well evaluated.

Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis who underwent FESS were enrolled in this study. They were randomly divided into two groups: a study group and a control group. In the study group, patients took amoxicillin/clavulante for 3 weeks after FESS. In the control group, no antibiotic was given after FESS. Before FESS, all patients filled out a symptom questionnaire and received nasal endoscopy. Swab specimens were taken from the middle meati for bacterial cultures. These procedures were done again 3 weeks after FESS.

Seventy-one patients completed the study. Thirty-one patients were in the study group, and 40 patients were in the control group. The symptom scores significantly decreased after surgery in both groups, but bacteria identified before and after FESS were statistically different in both groups. There were no differences in the symptom and endoscopic scores, rates of bacterial culture, and drug sensitivity to amoxicillin/clavulante between the two groups after FESS.

This study showed that postoperative care with amoxicillin/clavulante did not improve the short-term outcome of FESS on chronic rhinosinusitis or decrease bacterial growth 3weeks after FESS, although the long-term influence was not evaluated in this study.