Quality of life after functional endoscopic sinus surgery in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis

Abstract

Background and objective: Chronic Rhinosinusitis characterized by inflammation of the mucosa of the nose and paranasal sinuses. The degree of sinonasal inflammation as measured by CT- scan or endoscopy fails to correlate with the extent of symptoms experienced by the individual patient. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of functional endoscopic sinus surgery in improving symptoms profile and quality of life for patients complaining of chronic rhinosinusitis. Methods: A prospective clinical study extended from January 2013- January 2015 & included 30 patients above 18 years old of chronic rhinosinusitis without polyp who were treated by functional endoscopic sinus surgery. The data were collected and interpreted using Sinonasal Assessment questionnaire -11 (SNAQ-11). Results: A total of 30 patients were included in the study; 18 patients were males (60%), and 12 patients were females (40%). Most of the patients (40%) were among the age group 25-34 years. The result shows no significant association between age and mean difference in SNAQ-11 score. The main preoperative complaint of our patients was the nasal obstruction (100% of patients), followed by nasal congestion (93.3%), and least complaint was sneezing (20%) and earache (20%). There was a statistically significant association between the patient's symptoms and SNAQ-11 score with a significant reduction in the total SNAQ-11 score after surgery. Conclusion: Functional endoscopic sinus surgery performed for chronic rhinosinusitis cases has been associated with significant improvement in the quality of life after 12 months follow up & the best outcome was for nasal obstruction.