Evolution of sinonasal symptoms and mucosal healing after minimally invasive pituitary surgery

Minimally invasive pituitary surgery (MIPS) via endoscopy has become widely accepted as the surgical paradigm of choice for pituitary pathology. The objective of the current study was to analyze the evolution of symptom scores and mucosal healing after MIPS.

The 22-item Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22) scores and objective endoscopic data of 52 patients were reviewed in a longitudinal manner. Scaled averages of the SNOT-22 and endoscopic scores from different time points were compared with baseline scores by using nonparametric testing. The time to baseline for endoscopic examinations was also analyzed by using Kaplan-Meier curves.

The rhinologic symptoms subdomain of the SNOT-22 scores showed statistically significant worsening between baseline and 2 weeks after surgery (p = 0.03). Follow-up SNOT-22 scores after 2 weeks showed no significant differences compared with baseline scores, with an overall trend toward improvement in patient symptoms during the subsequent period. Similar analysis for the endoscopic data illustrated statistically significant differences from the baseline scores up to 16 weeks after surgery. The overall trend showed a worsened endoscopic examination, initially with a spike at ∼8 to 10 weeks (p = 0.03) and with a subsequent return to baseline. The Kaplan-Meier estimate curve demonstrated a median time to return to baseline endoscopy at 18.9 weeks (95% confidence interval, 14.9-38.3 weeks).

The longitudinal data exhibited subjective improvement of patient outcomes based on SNOT-22 scores within 2-4 weeks after MIPS. However, the objective endoscopic data revealed a lag in improvement of the examination, typically at 16-20 weeks, which underscores ongoing careful endoscopic assessment and management to ensure proper mucosal healing beyond just subjective symptoms as the gauge to postoperative recovery.