Outcomes of endoscopic sinus surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis associated with sinonasal polyposis

Background: The aim of this study was is to investigate the outcomes of endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) when performed for chronic rhinosinusitis associated with sinonasal polyps. Methods: Forty-three patients with polyps were compared with 76 patients without polyps before and after ESS. Mean follow-up was 1.5 years. Patients were analyzed prospectively based on computed tomography (CT), endoscopy, quality-of-life (QOL) assessment, and visual analog scales (VASs). Univariate analyses were performed to evaluate whether the presence of polyps was predictive of outcome. Results: Patients with polyps had worse CT and endoscopy scores both pre- and postoperatively when compared with patients without polyps (p < 0.0001 for each). All patients, regardless of polyps, improved on endoscopic exam; however, patients with polyps showed a greater degree of improvement (p = 0.002). Despite this, postoperative endoscopic scores in patients with polyps were worse than those without polyps (p < 0.0001). Patients with polyps had better QOL as measured by the Chronic Sinusitis Survey (CSS) both pre- and postoperatively (p = 0.001 and 0.044, respectively). The preoperative VAS indicated that patients with polyps had increased nasal obstruction compared with patients without polyps (p = 0.002) while having less facial pain and headache (p = 0.002 and 0.005, respectively). Patients with polyps showed a greater postoperative improvement in nasal congestion (p = 0.003) but no difference in level of improvement in postoperative headache or pressure. Conclusion: Despite significantly worse objective testing scores, patients with polyps report significantly better QOL as measured by the CSS and less facial pain/headache as measured by VAS scores pre- and postoperatively. Polyps were not found to be predictive of QOL or endoscopic outcome.