Frequent Sinus Irrigation Therapy for Chronic Sinusitis

Abstract

Maxillary sinus irrigation with a Schmidt's maxillary antrum trocar was applied to 47 patients with chronic sinusitis, including 2 with dental sinusitis, between the ages of 13 and 74 years; forty-six received the treatment 10 to 342 times, averaging 55 times in past 4 years; one received it 166 times in past 9 years. Two patients with dental lesions were cured, and the others were not cured but their symptoms and findings were greatly improved. It was observed that nasal obstruction due to sinusitis was chiefly related to the degree of stricture of the orifice of tne maxillary antrum rather than to the changes of the nasal cavity. Frequent sinus irrigation may cure this stricture. The changes in the nasal cavity were improved, and rhinorrhea was decreased by this procedure. This treatment was superior to the other conservative treatments for chronic sinusitis. © 1981, The Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Society of Japan, Inc. All rights reserved.