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Weighing the Decision

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1998;124:106-107.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

CONSIDERABLE controversy exists concerning the appropriateness of MT resection during endoscopic sinus surgery. The views on this topic vary to either extreme. Some say the MT should never be resected in the absence of a concha bullosa, while others routinely resect at least a portion of the MT (the so-called turbinators).

Most surgeons who advocate partial MT resection do so for practical rather than theoretical reasons, including ease of postoperative care, decreased synechia formation, and higher middle meatal antrostomy patency rates. As Stewart has pointed out, what little data exist would seem to support this practical approach.

Those who condemn MT resection often do so for theoretical reasons, including limited knowledge of the functional importance of the MT, the potential for leakage of cerebrospinal fluid caused by damage to the olfactory epithelium, and opening the middle meatus to greater exposure to allergens and other toxins during nasal respiration.

In most . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Dale H. Rice, MD
Los Angeles, Calif

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