A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating Postoperative Debridement Following Endoscopic Sinus Surgery

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a common sinus and nasal condition affecting more than 33 million Americans. The treatment of CRS typically begins with maximal medical therapy however, when this fails to improve patient symptoms, surgical intervention is considered. Endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) is a well-established treatment for refractory CRS with approximately 600,000 sinus surgeries performed annually in the United States alone. Despite the success of this intervention, up to 26% of patients experience complications following surgery, including middle meatal (MM) synechiae, edema, polyp recurrence, and middle turbinate lateralization. Currently, there is no consensus as to the postoperative care regime that is most effective at minimizing or preventing these potential complications. Therefore there is need for further study into the role of debridement, examining patients undergoing endoscopic sinus surgery while concurrently addressing the potential confounders of maximal medical therapies in the postoperative setting.

This prospective, randomized, single-blind, controlled study design will investigate the efficacy of postoperative debridement following ESS. Patients who have undergone ESS will have one nare randomized to debridement and the other to no debridement at the first week post-operative visit. In this way, the patients will act as their own controls in order to account for inter-patient variability in disease severity. The primary outcome will assess synechiae formation attributed to ESS. Secondary outcomes will include pain (side-specific) attributed to the debridement procedure as well as comparing pre and post endoscopy scores and SNOT-22 questionnaire responses.