The role of mini-trephination in the management of frontal sinusitis

The surgical management of chronic frontal sinusitis remains nit area of co ntroversy. Since the introduction of endoscopic sinus sugery, many novel ap proaches to this difficult problem have been developed Recently at the Univ ersity of Virginia, mini-trephination of the frontal sinus has been used in combination with endoscopic frontal sinusotomy. This technique has enabled confident and precise identification of the frontal sinus ostium, culture of sinus contents, and irrigation of the frontal sinus. A retrospective rev iew of 22 minitrephinations since November 1997 was performed. The short te rm results are encouraging with a frontal sinus patency rate of 90%; howeve r, long-term follow-up is required We conclude that the technique is reliab le and reproducible.