Complications of frontal sinus surgery

Abstract

No exact figure exists for the likelihood of major complications after endoscopic sinus surgery. To obtain a figure for the chance of a complication involving a single sinus would be even more difficult. Given the complicated anatomy of the frontal sinus and its proximity to vital structures, it is unlikely that complications from frontal sinus surgery would be less frequent than in sinus surgery in general. No study specifically addressing this has been performed. The increasing use of balloon sinuplasty and specifically its application in the frontal sinuses may serve to decrease the overall rate of complications. Balloon sinuplasty, used in isolation in the frontal sinus has an excellent safety profile, a safety profile which is likely superior to dissection based techniques. Clearly only a minority oflpatients and disease processes are suitable for balloon dilation.