Surgical approaches to the pituitary have undergone significant transcranial, sublabial, direct transnasal microscopic, and now endoscopic. The researchers did this study to compare sinonasal outcomes from patients from these techniques.

The present research is a cross-sectional study of patients who underwent pituitary surgery in a tertiary setting. Researchers recruited parents via different communication chanels. Surveys with questions on nasal function, subsequent nasal treatment, the NSS, SNOT-22, CSS, and Short Form 36 version 2 were obtained.

Researchers sent a total of 252 surveys, of which 165 were completed and returned, and 16 were excluded due to poor quality responses. A total of 149 patients were assessed with the following breakdown: sublabial, transnasal microscopic, and endoscopic approaches.Compared to sublabial and transnasal microscopic, endoscopic patients had superior NSSs, SNOT-22 total scores, and CSS medication subscores. Endoscopic patients also reported superior SF-36v2 physical subscores.

The study concluded that nasal function was superior, and other sinus therapies and medication use were lower in patients with endoscopic approaches. Disease-specific quality of life was excellent, and the endoscopic approach resulted in reduced long-term sinonasal morbidity.

Reference: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1945892419896788

Author