Endoscopic sinus surgery in individuals with facial pain due to chronic maxillary sinusitis - a functional controlled study.

OBJECTIVE To measure the intra-sinus pressure and the maxillary sinus functional efficiency (MSFE) in individuals with chronic facial pain after conservative or conventional endoscopic maxillary surgery, as well as in controls. METHOD Sinus manometry was performed 5 times during inhalation. RESULTS The resemblance of pressure values comparing those treated with minimally invasive surgery and controls was remarkable, while traditional surgery significantly decreased intrasinusal pressures. The MSFE was 100% in the three tested times for controls, close to that in those submitted to minimally invasive surgery (98.3%, 98.8%, and 98.0%) and significantly impaired after conventional surgery (48.8%, 52.1%, 48.5 %, p<0.01). All patients submitted to minimally invasive surgery remained pain-free after three months of surgery, relative to 46.7% of the submitted to conventional surgery (p<0.05). CONCLUSION Minimally invasive sinus surgery is associated with functionality of the chambers that resemble what is found in normal individuals.