Endoscopic endonasal surgery for postoperative maxillary cyst

Abstract

For postoperative maxillary cyst (POMC), the per-maxillary method has been performed in most cases. The endoscopie endonasal method has had only limited application, since the varied number and location make the operation difficult. Recently, we have started using the endoscopie endonasal method on all POMC cases. We discuss the indications for the use of the endoscopie endonasal method for POMC based on the results of these operations. This study comprised 55 patients (59 sides), 18 females and 37 males, who underwent the endoscopic endonasal method for POMC from January 1990 to June 1994. We followed these patients for 1-year postoperatively. We found that the wall of the cysts opened to the nasal cavity in 91.5% of cases. When there was only one cyst, the partition wall between the cyst and the nasal cavity was menbranous and/or the cyst adjoined the wall of the nasal cavity, almost all cysts opend to the nasal cavity. When the cysts had bony wall and/or were apart from the nasal cavity, it was possible for the wall opening to be blocked or restricted. Based on our results, we conclude that a minimally invasive endoscopie method should be the operation of first choice for POMC.