Endoscopic frontal sinusotomy-preventing recurrence or a route to revision?

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS The Messerklinger technique is an endoscopic approach to sinus surgery designed to be minimally invasive and preserve mucosa and therefore physiological function. More recently there have been advocates for more radical endoscopic approaches to the frontal sinus such as the modified Lothrop procedure. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of endoscopic frontal sinusotomy in preventing recurrent frontal sinus disease and the need for any revision frontal sinus surgery. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective data review. METHODS A retrospective review of the chronic rhinosinusitis database at St. Paul's Sinus Centre was performed, randomly selecting 200 patients who had undergone primary bilateral functional endoscopic sinus surgery between 2000 and 2009. Any endoscopic or radiological recurrences listed on the database were counted along with the number of cases returned to theater for revision surgery. The preoperative Lund-Mackay score was also extracted from the database. RESULTS In the 200 patients who had undergone their primary surgery at St. Paul's Hospital, the recurrence rate of frontal sinus disease was 19%, with less than one half (8%) requiring revision surgery. The Lund-Mackay scores showed no correlation between disease severity and the incidence of recurrence (P = .35), and there was no difference between polyp and nonpolyp forms of chronic rhinosinusitis (P = .14). A comparison with 100 patients in the database who had received their primary surgery at another center showed that the revision patients had a recurrence rate of 34% and a revision rate of 21%. The patients who did not receive surgical revision were treated satisfactorily with topical medications in the outpatient clinic. CONCLUSIONS Meticulously performed endoscopic frontal sinusotomy with computer guidance appears to be an effective minimally invasive procedure to treat chronic frontal sinusitis secondary to outflow tract obstruction. Properly performed, it is effective in dealing with the most diseased frontal sinus. It offers clear advantages in reducing complications and recurrence rates in frontal sinus disease even in revision cases.