ENDOSCOPIC RESECTION OF THE INTRANASAL FRONTAL-SINUS FLOOR

The current accepted treatment for chronic frontal sinus disease unres ponsive to medical management and endoscopic surgery is an external ap proach to either obliterate the sinus or restore communication to the nasal cavity. Here reported is an endoscopic approach for resection of the intranasal frontal sinus floor, a modification of a procedure fir st described by Lothrop in 1899. Eleven patients underwent this operat ion from April 1993 to December 1993. One complication, a cerebrospina l fluid leak treated successfully endoscopically, has occurred. Of the 7 patients followed up 3 months or longer after surgery, only 1 has d eveloped symptoms of recurrent frontal sinusitis. On the basis of this limited preliminary experience, the endoscopic Lothrop procedure show s promise as an effective operation designed to establish a physiologi c communication between the frontal sinus and the nasal cavity in sele cted patients who would otherwise be candidates for an external approa ch.