Changes in mucociliary clearance after sinus surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis

Introduction:

The mucociliary clearance is one parameter for evaluation of the nasal mucosa, which includes the activity of the ciliated cells and the composition of the mucus. One method to measure the mucociliray clearance is the determination of the saccharin transit time (STT). Only few studies on the influence of sinus surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis on the STT are available.

Methods:

In a prospective study on patients suffering from chronic rhinosinusitis with and without nasal polyps the STT was determined before, 2 weeks and 6 months after endonasal sinus surgery. After the operation, patients were treated with a topical nasal steroid once daily and used saline irrigations.

Results:

37 patients with full data sets could be analysed. Twenty-three suffered from rhinosinusitis with polyps, 21 had revision surgery. The initial STT in the group without polyps was 15.6 ± 8.3 and with polyps 23.1 ± 18.5. Regarding the whole group, two weeks after surgery the STT showed a strong trend to increased values (from 20.3 ± 15.7 to 26.4 ± 1.,7 minutes. After 6 months the STT decreased to 19.8 ± 14.2 minutes. In the group with polyposis, the values were higher by trend but not significantly different.

Conclusion:

After sinus surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis the STT shows an increase 2 weeks after operation. After 6 months, the STT reaches the value prior surgery. There was no obvious correlation to other parameter. Therefore, it is questionable if the determination of the STT is a reliable parameter for follow-up of surgical rhinosinusitis cases.

Publication History

Publication Date:
18 April 2018 (online)