Postoperative irrigation therapy after sinonasal tumor surgery

Area of Science:

• Otolaryngology
• Neurosurgery
• Oncology

Background:

• Post-endoscopic tumor resection sinonasal care manages crusting, edema, and mucus.
• High-volume irrigations are beneficial; corticosteroid use in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is established, but its role post-tumor resection is unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the efficacy of saline alone versus saline with corticosteroid irrigations in postoperative sinonasal tumor care.
• To compare healing outcomes and symptom scores between the two irrigation methods.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study of 59 patients undergoing endoscopic endonasal tumor resection.
• Patients received either saline or saline with betamethasone (1 mg) daily for 3 months.
• Nasal symptom scores (NSS), Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22), and endoscopic healing scores were evaluated.

Main Results:

• No significant difference in endoscopic healing scores between saline and saline with steroid groups.
• Nasal symptom scores (NSS) and SNOT-22 scores were significantly lower in the saline-only group (p=0.03 and p=0.01, respectively).

Conclusions:

• Corticosteroid irrigations are not warranted for sinonasal tumor surgery recovery.
• The inflammatory healing process post-tumor surgery differs from CRS, explaining the lack of benefit from corticosteroids.