End Results of Intranasal Operation for Maxillary Sinusitis

Surgical treatment of chronic maxillary sinusitis may be either radical or conservative; definite and rigid rules cannot be laid down, for treatment must be suited to the individual patient. There are patients for whom only a radical operation will suffice, but usually, conservative measures will restore the antrum to a normal state. To determine the type of operation to be used, a careful preoperative study of the maxillary sinus should be made. This examination is not complete without the use of an antroscope. By means of this instrument, the presence of polyps, cysts and tumors, as well as the condition of the lining mucous membrane, often can be determined. To estimate the benefits derived from the conservative treatment of chronic maxillary sinusitis, I1studied in 1927 the histories of 385 patients so treated. An effort was made to determine the causative background and thereby to ascertain whether certain types of