THE EFFECT OF ABSORBABLE STENTING ON POSTOPERATIVE STENOSIS OF THE SURGICALLY ENLARGED MAXILLARY SINUS OSTIA IN A RABBIT ANIMAL-MODEL

Objective: To determine the effect of absorbable stenting on postopera tive stenosis of the surgically enlarged maxillary sinus in a rabbit m odel. Design: A randomized controlled animal study with each specimen serving as its own control. Animals had their maxillary ostia surgical ly enlarged bilaterally. Video images were made of each enlarged ostia . Unilateral stenting was performed using rolled absorbable stenting ( Gelfilm, Upjohn Co, Kalamazoo, Mich). The animals were killed at 3 mon ths and repeated images were made of each ostia. An image processing s ystem (IBAS-AT, Kontron Instruments, Milan, Italy) was used to individ ually calibrate each image and then measure areas. Surgical and 3-mont h areas were compared with the examiner blinded to the stented side. S ubjects: Twelve specific pathogen-free New Zealand white rabbits. Resu lts: Stented ostia had an increased stenosis compared with unstented o stia, but this increase was not statistically significant (P=.08, Stud ent t test). There was no within-animal change in nonstented ostia com pared with an 18% decrease in the stented ostia. Conclusions: Stenting did not statistically change the amount of stenosis of the surgically enlarged ostia in a rabbit model, although a trend toward more scarri ng when compared with the nonstented side was observed.