Paranasal sinusitis: a common complication of nasotracheal intubation in neurosurgical patients

Sinusitis secondary to nasotracheal intubation has not been reported to occur in neurosurgical patients. Over a 1-year period, 11 patients admitted to the Intensive Care/Trauma Unit at St. Paul Ramsey Medical Center developed this entity. The mean age of these patients was 36 +/- 4 years; 7 were trauma victims, 3 had each had a subarachnoid hemorrhage, and 1 had suffered hypertensive hemorrhage. The patients presented with fever of unknown origin (FUO) and evidence of persistent hypermetabolism without an obvious cause. In 8 cases, the diagnosis was not suspected until mucopurulent nasal discharge was noted. Three additional cases were evaluated for suspected sinusitis before the occurrence of discharge. The mean duration of intubation before the diagnosis of sinusitis was 7.8 +/- 1.5 days. The diagnosis was confirmed by sinus films with a Waters view in 7 cases or by computed tomographic scanning in 4 cases and by bacteriological cultures. Two cases involved only the maxillary sinus on the side of intubation; the rest were polysinusites. The organisms involved included gram-positive and gram-negative species; all were polymicrobial with a single organism predominant. Secondary pulmonary involvement was common, and 4 patients revealed a bacteremia consistent with the major sinus organism. One patient developed septic shock. Treatment involved either orotracheal intubation or tracheostomy. This was curative in all cases. It is concluded that neurosurgical patients nasally intubated are at risk for sinusitis, which can have untoward effects such as septicemia or pulmonary infection. A high degree of suspicion will permit early diagnosis and treatment.