A policy of day-case sinonasal surgery is safe, well tolerated and cost-effective.

OBJECTIVE: Practices vary regarding the timing of discharge after sinonasal surgery. This study aimed to examine the cost-effectiveness of same-day discharge compared to next-day discharge after sinonasal surgery. METHODS: A retrospective single-surgeon audit of sinonasal surgery over a 12-month period was performed. Demographic and clinical details, including distance travelled home, timing of discharge, hospital re-presentation, and complications, were collected and compared between the same-day discharge and next-day discharge groups. A cost-effectiveness analysis was performed. RESULTS: A total of 181 patients were identified; 117 underwent day-case surgery, of which 6 re-presented to the emergency department. Sixty-four patients stayed overnight after surgery, and six of those patients re-presented to the emergency department. The per patient cost was $3262 for day-case sinonasal surgery and $5050 for those admitted overnight after surgery (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Routine same-day discharge after sinonasal surgery is achievable, safe and cost-effective.

Utilization and reimbursements for sinus procedures: A five-year analysis.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Balloon sinuplasty has become an increasingly popular option for patients undergoing surgical treatment of sinusitis. This study analyzes utilization and growth of these procedures across a large cohort of patients over a 5-year period. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective data review. METHODS: This was a retrospective review of Medicare utilization and billing data. Utilization and payment values were obtained from Medicare claims data using Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services datasets. All Medicare claims were analyzed from 2012 to 2016. Data were extracted for balloon sinuplasty and endoscopic sinus surgery claims. Procedure location, total submitted claims, charges, and payments were compared. RESULTS: From 2012 to 2016, the number of balloon procedures increased from 5,603 to 25,640. Traditional endoscopic sinus surgery procedures increased from 15,509 to 18,164. Aggregate Medicare payments to otolaryngologists for endoscopic sinus surgery have remained relatively stable, whereas there has been a 450% increase in total payments to providers of balloon sinuplasty. In 2016, total payments to providers of balloon procedures ($40.5 million) were substantially higher than payments to providers of non-balloon-based endoscopic sinus surgery ($4.7 million). The number of providers performing balloon procedures has increased 277% versus 17% for traditional sinus surgery. CONCLUSIONS: There has been a rapid expansion in the number of sinus procedures in the Medicare population from 2012 to 2016. Office-based balloon procedures account for the overwhelming majority of the increases in procedures and payments. Per procedure and aggregate payments are now higher for sinuplasty procedures than for traditional sinus surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: NA Laryngoscope, 129:2224-2229, 2019.

Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of SNOT-22 Outcomes after Surgery for Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyposis.

Objective Wide variation exists regarding reported outcomes after endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP). This study seeks to combine data across studies to generate a summary measure and explore factors that might lead to variation. Data Sources OVID Medline, Scopus, EbscoHost, Database of Abstracts and Reviews of Effects, Health Technology Assessment, and National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database. Review Methods A search was performed following the PRISMA guidelines. Two independent researchers conducted a search using the mentioned data sources. Studies published before August 29, 2016, that involved ESS to treat CRSwNP were included. Mean changes in Sinonasal Outcome Test-22 (SNOT-22) scores were determined through metaregression of the following independent variables: publication year, sex, age, allergy status, asthma, tobacco use, prior surgery, follow-up length, and preoperative SNOT-22. Results Fifteen articles with 3048 patients treated with ESS met inclusion criteria. Pooled analyses of SNOT-22 scores revealed a mean change of 23.0 points (95% CI, 20.2-25.8; P < .001). A metaregression of patient factor effects on the mean change of SNOT-22 scores demonstrated that age ( r = 0.71, P = .01), asthma ( r = 0.21, P = .01), prior ESS ( r = 0.29, P = .01), and preoperative SNOT-22 score ( r = 0.4, P < .01) correlated with greater improvement in SNOT-22 scores. Tobacco use ( r = -0.91, P = .01) and longer lengths of follow-up ( r = -0.45, P < .01) were associated with less improvement in SNOT-22 scores. Conclusions Quality-of-life outcomes are significantly improved after ESS among patients with CRSwNP. Patient-specific factors may affect the degree of SNOT-22 change after surgery.

A cost-effectiveness analysis of nasal surgery to increase continuous positive airway pressure adherence in sleep apnea patients with nasal obstruction.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Nasal surgery has been implicated to improve continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) compliance in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and nasal obstruction. However, the cost-effectiveness of nasal surgery to improve CPAP compliance is not known. We modeled the cost-effectiveness of two types of nasal surgery versus no surgery in patients with OSA and nasal obstruction undergoing CPAP therapy. STUDY DESIGN: Cost-effectiveness decision tree model. METHODS: We built a decision tree model to identify conditions under which nasal surgery would be cost-effective to improve CPAP adherence over the standard of care. We compared turbinate reduction and septoplasty to nonsurgical treatment over varied time horizons from a third-party payer perspective. We included variables for cost of untreated OSA, surgical cost and complications, improved compliance postoperatively, and quality of life. RESULTS: Our study identified nasal surgery as a cost-effective strategy to improve compliance of OSA patients using CPAP across a range of plausible model assumptions regarding the cost of untreated OSA, the probability of adherence improvement, and a chronic time horizon. The relatively lower surgical cost of turbinate reduction made it more cost-effective at earlier time horizons, whereas septoplasty became cost-effective after a longer timespan. CONCLUSIONS: Across a range of plausible values in a clinically relevant decision model, nasal surgery is a cost-effective strategy to improve CPAP compliance in OSA patients with nasal obstruction. Our results suggest that OSA patients with nasal obstruction who struggle with CPAP therapy compliance should undergo evaluation for nasal surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2c Laryngoscope, 127:977-983, 2017.

Diced Cartilage in Fascia for Major Nasal Dorsal Augmentation in Asians: A Review of 15 Consecutive Cases.

BACKGROUND: Warping remains a primary issue in the use of autologous costal cartilage for nasal augmentation. To mitigate such issues, diced cartilage in fascia (DCIF) has been proposed as an alternative for use in rhinoplasty. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of DCIF in nasal dorsal augmentation for Asian patients, with particular focus on the strengths and weaknesses of this material. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifteen patients who underwent major dorsal augmentation with DCIF during the last 2 years were retrospectively reviewed. Diced cartilage wrapped in deep temporal fascia was used. RESULTS: Costal cartilage was used as the dicing material in 11 cases, while a mixture of septal and conchal cartilage was used in the other four cases. In the majority of cases, DCIF was inserted from the radix to the supratip. In 10 of the 15 cases, acceptable aesthetic and functional results were obtained; at a mean follow-up of 13.3 months, no complications were observed in these patients. In the remaining five cases, complications such as mild deviation, mild supratip depression, irregularities of the nasal dorsum, considerable resorption, and hair loss at the fascial harvesting site were observed. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that DCIF is useful in major nasal dorsal augmentation; however, it involves certain complications. Although obvious warping can be avoided, irregularity and mild deviation may still occur, potentially requiring technical refinement. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE V: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Automated objective surgical skill assessment in the operating room from unstructured tool motion in septoplasty.

PURPOSE: Previous work on surgical skill assessment using intraoperative tool motion has focused on highly structured surgical tasks such as cholecystectomy and used generic motion metrics such as time and number of movements. Other statistical methods such as hidden Markov models (HMM) and descriptive curve coding (DCC) have been successfully used to assess skill in structured activities on bench-top tasks. Methods to assess skill and provide effective feedback to trainees for unstructured surgical tasks in the operating room, such as tissue dissection in septoplasty, have yet to be developed. METHODS: We proposed a method that provides a descriptive structure for septoplasty by automatically segmenting it into higher-level meaningful activities called strokes. These activities characterize the surgeon's tool motion pattern. We constructed a spatial graph from the sequence of strokes in each procedure and used its properties to train a classifier to distinguish between expert and novice surgeons. We compared the results from our method with those from HMM, DCC, and generic metric-based approaches. RESULTS: We showed that our method--with an average accuracy of 91 %--performs better or equal than these state-of-the-art methods, while simultaneously providing surgeons with an intuitive understanding of the procedure. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we developed and evaluated an automated approach to objectively assess surgical skill during unstructured task of tissue dissection in nasal septoplasty.

Clinical practice guideline: Allergic rhinitis.

OBJECTIVE: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is one of the most common diseases affecting adults. It is the most common chronic disease in children in the United States today and the fifth most common chronic disease in the United States overall. AR is estimated to affect nearly 1 in every 6 Americans and generates $2 to $5 billion in direct health expenditures annually. It can impair quality of life and, through loss of work and school attendance, is responsible for as much as $2 to $4 billion in lost productivity annually. Not surprisingly, myriad diagnostic tests and treatments are used in managing this disorder, yet there is considerable variation in their use. This clinical practice guideline was undertaken to optimize the care of patients with AR by addressing quality improvement opportunities through an evaluation of the available evidence and an assessment of the harm-benefit balance of various diagnostic and management options. PURPOSE: The primary purpose of this guideline is to address quality improvement opportunities for all clinicians, in any setting, who are likely to manage patients with AR as well as to optimize patient care, promote effective diagnosis and therapy, and reduce harmful or unnecessary variations in care. The guideline is intended to be applicable for both pediatric and adult patients with AR. Children under the age of 2 years were excluded from the clinical practice guideline because rhinitis in this population may be different than in older patients and is not informed by the same evidence base. The guideline is intended to focus on a limited number of quality improvement opportunities deemed most important by the working group and is not intended to be a comprehensive reference for diagnosing and managing AR. The recommendations outlined in the guideline are not intended to represent the standard of care for patient management, nor are the recommendations intended to limit treatment or care provided to individual patients. ACTION STATEMENTS: The development group made a strong recommendation that clinicians recommend intranasal steroids for patients with a clinical diagnosis of AR whose symptoms affect their quality of life. The development group also made a strong recommendation that clinicians recommend oral second-generation/less sedating antihistamines for patients with AR and primary complaints of sneezing and itching. The panel made the following recommendations: (1) Clinicians should make the clinical diagnosis of AR when patients present with a history and physical examination consistent with an allergic cause and 1 or more of the following symptoms: nasal congestion, runny nose, itchy nose, or sneezing. Findings of AR consistent with an allergic cause include, but are not limited to, clear rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, pale discoloration of the nasal mucosa, and red and watery eyes. (2) Clinicians should perform and interpret, or refer to a clinician who can perform and interpret, specific IgE (skin or blood) allergy testing for patients with a clinical diagnosis of AR who do not respond to empiric treatment, or when the diagnosis is uncertain, or when knowledge of the specific causative allergen is needed to target therapy. (3) Clinicians should assess patients with a clinical diagnosis of AR for, and document in the medical record, the presence of associated conditions such as asthma, atopic dermatitis, sleep-disordered breathing, conjunctivitis, rhinosinusitis, and otitis media. (4) Clinicians should offer, or refer to a clinician who can offer, immunotherapy (sublingual or subcutaneous) for patients with AR who have inadequate response to symptoms with pharmacologic therapy with or without environmental controls. The panel recommended against (1) clinicians routinely performing sinonasal imaging in patients presenting with symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of AR and (2) clinicians offering oral leukotriene receptor antagonists as primary therapy for patients with AR. The panel group made the following options: (1) Clinicians may advise avoidance of known allergens or may advise environmental controls (ie, removal of pets; the use of air filtration systems, bed covers, and acaricides [chemical agents formulated to kill dust mites]) in patients with AR who have identified allergens that correlate with clinical symptoms. (2) Clinicians may offer intranasal antihistamines for patients with seasonal, perennial, or episodic AR. (3) Clinicians may offer combination pharmacologic therapy in patients with AR who have inadequate response to pharmacologic monotherapy. (4) Clinicians may offer, or refer to a surgeon who can offer, inferior turbinate reduction in patients with AR with nasal airway obstruction and enlarged inferior turbinates who have failed medical management. (5) Clinicians may offer acupuncture, or refer to a clinician who can offer acupuncture, for patients with AR who are interested in nonpharmacologic therapy. The development group provided no recommendation regarding the use of herbal therapy for patients with AR.

Pathological review of turbinate tissue from functional nasal surgery: incurring costs without adding quality.

OBJECTIVE: Inferior turbinate surgery for nasal obstruction can be performed in a variety of ways. Only a few of these methods produce tissue that can be sent for pathologic analysis. According to the College of American Pathologists, turbinate tissues are not exempt from requisite pathologic evaluation. Our objectives were to evaluate the clinical value and cost implications of routine pathological examination of turbinate specimens. STUDY DESIGN: Case series with chart review. SETTING: Academic tertiary care medical center. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Charts of patients who underwent an inferior turbinate procedure for nasal obstruction between January 2008 and August 2011 were reviewed. RESULTS: Thirteen hundred consecutive cases from 17 surgeons were identified. Among these patients, 223 (17%) underwent an isolated turbinate reduction procedure and 779 (59%) underwent a reduction procedure in conjunction with a septoplasty. The remaining patients had a turbinate procedure in addition to another head and neck procedure. Only 591 (45%) turbinate reduction procedures were performed by methods that were tissue producing, and of these, 137 (23%) were sent for pathologic analysis. All submitted specimens received a gross examination and 123 (90%) also underwent histologic analysis. No abnormalities were reported. CONCLUSION: At our institution, most surgeons did not submit turbinate tissues for pathologic examination even when a specimen was produced. Of the specimens sent, no abnormal pathologic results were identified. Our results suggest that routine pathologic evaluation of inferior turbinate specimens may not contribute to patient care and perhaps represents an unnecessary cost.

[One-step rhinootosurgery. Clinical, economic and social aspects].

The objective of this work was to estimate from the clinical, economic, and social standpoints the efficacy of medical aid provided to the patients with chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) and concomitant pathology of the nasal cavity by means of the one-step surgical intervention. The study included a total of 208 patients presenting with CSOM of whom 108 ones were treated by the traditional multistage method and the remaining 108 by simultaneous rhinootosurgery. The latter approach was shown to be much more efficacious in terms of clinical, economic, and social considerations.

Assessment of symptom improvement following nasal septoplasty with or without turbinectomy.

UNLABELLED: Most studies show that objective measures to quantify and determine surgical success in the treatment of nasal obstruction do not correlate with subjective improvement as reported by patients. AIM: To evaluate the subjective improvement of nasal symptoms in patients undergoing septoplasty with or without turbinectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective study. We evaluated 72 septoplasty patients with or without partial inferior turbinectomy; the patients answered a questionnaire preoperatively and on the 60th day after surgery. RESULTS: Septoplasty was done associated with bilateral partial inferior turbinectomy in 83.3% of patients; it was unilateral in 9.7%; there was no need for turbinate reduction in 6.9%. An improvement of all symptoms was observed after surgery. Nasal obstruction had improved in 68 patients (94.4%) by the 60th postoperative day. The average nasal obstruction score in patients with and without allergic symptoms was similar before surgery and on the 60th postoperative day. Older patients had milder preoperative allergic symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Nasal symptoms in patients undergoing septoplasty, with or without turbinectomy, improved. Patients with and without allergic symptoms showed a similar improvement of nasal obstruction on the 60th postoperative day.

Assessment of symptom improvement following nasal septoplasty with or without turbinectomy / Avaliação da melhora dos sintomas nasais após septoplastia com ou sem turbinectomia

Most studies show that objective measures to quantify and determine surgical success in the treatment of nasal obstruction do not correlate with subjective improvement as reported by patients. AIM: To evaluate the subjective improvement of nasal symptoms in patients undergoing septoplasty with or without turbinectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective study. We evaluated 72 septoplasty patients with or without partial inferior turbinectomy; the patients answered a questionnaire preoperatively and on the 60th day after surgery. RESULTS: Septoplasty was done associated with bilateral partial inferior turbinectomy in 83.3 percent of patients; it was unilateral in 9.7 percent; there was no need for turbinate reduction in 6.9 percent. An improvement of all symptoms was observed after surgery. Nasal obstruction had improved in 68 patients (94.4 percent) by the 60th postoperative day. The average nasal obstruction score in patients with and without allergic symptoms was similar before surgery and on the 60th postoperative day. Older patients had milder preoperative allergic symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Nasal symptoms in patients undergoing septoplasty, with or without turbinectomy, improved. Patients with and without allergic symptoms showed a similar improvement of nasal obstruction on the 60th postoperative day.

A maioria dos estudos mostra que medidas objetivas para quantificar e determinar o sucesso das cirurgias para a obstrução nasal não têm correlação com a melhora subjetiva relatada pelo paciente. OBJETIVO: Avaliar a melhora dos sintomas nasais nos pacientes submetidos à septoplastia, com ou sem turbinectomia. MATERIAL E MÉTODO: Estudo prospectivo. Foram avaliados 72 pacientes submetidos à septoplastia, com ou sem turbinectomia inferior parcial, que responderam ao questionário no préoperatório até o 60º dia de pós-operatório (PO). RESULTADOS: Foi realizada septoplastia associada à turbinectomia inferior parcial bilateral em 83,3 por cento dos pacientes, unilateral em 9,7 por cento e não houve necessidade de redução das conchas nasais em 6,9 por cento. Foi observada melhora para todos os sintomas no pós-operatório. Sessenta e oito (94,4 por cento) pacientes apresentaram melhora da obstrução nasal no 60º PO. A média da nota da obstrução nasal entre os pacientes com e sem sintomas alérgicos foi semelhante no pré-operatório e no 60º PO. Os pacientes mais velhos apresentaram menor intensidade dos sintomas alérgicos no pré-operatório. CONCLUSÕES: Os pacientes submetidos à septoplastia, com ou sem turbinectomia, evoluem com melhora de todos os sintomas nasais. Os pacientes com e sem sintomas alérgicos apresentam melhora da obstrução nasal de forma semelhante no 60º PO.

Systematic functional assessment of nasal dyspnea: surgical outcomes and predictive ability.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the ability of a systematic preoperative evaluation to determine the most appropriate procedures for patients undergoing functional septorhinoplasty and to accurately predict postoperative outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: Case series with chart review. SETTING: Tertiary care military hospital. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Fifty-nine consecutive patients from a quality control database who underwent functional rhinoplasties for nasal dyspnea were evaluated. All patients underwent a full preoperative assessment using intranasal manipulation to determine the area(s) contributing to their nasal dyspnea. Rates of success for the predictive ability and for the functional outcome were determined for each side of the nose by comparing preoperative visual analog scale (VAS) scores (1-10) to postoperative scores. RESULTS: Overall there was a 91% success rate in predicting the outcome of surgery and a 95% success rate in improving nasal dyspnea at 1 year. There was no statistically significant difference in improvement between different surgical groups (septoplasty ± alar strut grafts ± spreader grafts) or between primary surgeries and revisions. CONCLUSION: Using a systematic approach to evaluate patients for nasal dyspnea, it is possible to predict and improve outcomes by choosing the most appropriate surgery for each individual.