Comparison of surgical outcomes between patients with unilateral and bilateral chronic rhinosinusitis

Although the majority of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyposis (CRSsNP) suffer from bilateral disease, a subset suffer from unilateral disease. Currently, outcomes following endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) for medically recalcitrant CRS are inferred from outcomes for patients with bilateral disease. This study compares outcomes of ESS between patients with unilateral and bilateral disease.

Patients with CRSsNP who failed appropriate medical therapy and elected ESS were enrolled between 2011 and 2015. Patients were dichotomized according to radiographic evidence of unilateral disease (Lund-Mackay [LM] score = 0 for 1 side) or bilateral disease (LM ≥ 1 for both sides). The primary outcome of interest was the 22-item Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22), with secondary outcomes including the Brief Smell Identification Test (BSIT) and the Lund-Kennedy (LK) endoscopy staging system.

A total of 190 patients met inclusion criteria consisting of 19 with unilateral (10%) and 171 with bilateral CRSsNP (90%). Both groups were similar across all preoperative demographic factors, SNOT-22, and BSIT scores. Postoperatively, patients with bilateral disease reported greater improvement in mean SNOT-22 scores compared to unilateral disease, but this difference was not statistically or clinically significant (-24.3 ± 21.1 vs -21.5 ± 24.0, p = 0.582). Mean LK scores improved for patients with bilateral disease but not unilateral disease, without a difference between groups (-2.0 ± 3.5 vs -0.4 ± 2.4, p = 0.090).

Patients with unilateral CRSsNP experience improvement after ESS comparable to patients with bilateral disease on patient reported outcome measures.