Objective: To explore the effect of functional endoscopic sinus surgery(FESS) on the mucociliary clearance of nasal mucosa.
Method: 105 patients suffered from chronic sinusitis and undergone FESS from Jan. 1998 to Dec. 1998 were staged and analyzed according to the standard set up in Haikou in 1997. The nasal mucociliary transport rate (MTR) was measured by "saccharin" before, three months and six months after surgery.
Result: 1. The difference of the stages for chronic sinusitis affected directly the surgical result. 2. The difference of properties, limits and extents of pathological changes in sinuses was significantly associated with the MTR. The MTR showed a marked reduction in stage II-II, II-III and III. The MTR was increased after surgery. 3. The difference of the stages affected directly the recovery of MTR. The MTR in stage I-I, I-II, I-III and II-I recovered more quickly.
Conclusion: The MTR of nasal mucosa tended to recover after FESS. The study confirmed that the present staging system for chronic sinusitis was seasonable. We therefore propose the "saccharin" technique as a simple, safe, reliable and objective method of assessing the results of surgery.