Incidence, risk factors, and outcomes of endoscopic sinus surgery after endoscopic skull-base surgery

Patients undergoing endoscopic resection of neoplasms with both sinonasal and skull base involvement can develop chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) after treatment and may occasionally benefit from additional endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). We investigate risk factors and outcomes associated with revision ESS (rESS) after endoscopic skull-base surgery (SBS) for neoplasms with combined sinonasal and skull base involvement.

A retrospective review of patients with neoplasms with both sinonasal and skull base involvement who underwent endoscopic resection at a single tertiary care academic institution from 2004 through 2017 was performed. Eighty-three patients were included. Main outcome measures included incidence and timing of revision surgery, Lund-Mackay (LM) scores, and 22-item Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22) scores.

rESS was performed in 21 (25%) cases, 15 (18%) of which were due to CRS. Time between initial resection and rESS was an average of 42 months (range, 6 to 142 months). Pre-SBS and post-SBS LM scores were not significantly different (5.0 vs 4.7, p = 0.640), although pre-SBS and post-SBS SNOT-22 scores showed significant improvement (32.6 vs 24.5, p = 0.030). Malignant pathology correlated with need for rESS (odds ratio [OR] 5.07, p = 0.04), as well as treatment including chemotherapy (OR 5.10, p = 0.003) and radiation (OR 4.15, p = 0.013).

A significant proportion of patients develop clinically significant sinusitis after endoscopic SBS for neoplasms with combined sinonasal and skull base involvement and may benefit from rESS. Intervention occurred, on average, 3.5 years after initial tumor resection. Malignant pathology, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy correlate with need for rESS.