Implications of endoscopic endonasal surgery for the treatment of postoperative maxillary mucoceles

Recently, endoscopic endonasal surgery has been widely used to treat chroni c sinusitis with good results being reported by many investigators. Endosco pic endonasal surgery is a technique available not only for chronic sinusit is but also for other sinus diseases including postoperative maxillary muco celes. In this report, the indications and limitations of endoscopic endona sal surgery for the treatment of postoperative maxillary mucoceles are disc ussed based on our experience treating 26 such mucoceles at our clinic. The indications for endoscopic endonasal surgery include mucoceles in close co ntact with the lateral wail of the inferior nasal meatus and those mucocele s that can be widely opened to the middle nasal meatus. The following cases could not be treated by endoscopic endonasal surgery: mucoceles that were localized in areas distant from the nasal cavity, mucoceles in which the la teral wall of the inferior nasal meatus was bony and intensely thickened, a nd mucoceles that could not be sufficiently opened to the middle nasal meat us. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.