NASAL MORBIDITY FOLLOWING ENDOSCOPIC SKULL BASE SURGERY: A PROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY

Background. Nasal morbidity following skull base surgery necessitates follow-up for postoperative care. We describe nasal morbidity following endoscopic skull base surgery. Methods. Patient and operative data and postoperative subjective and objective measures of morbidity were prospectively collected for 1 year. Time to absence of crusting and remucosalization were determined. Risk factor analyses for crusting and nasal discharge were performed. Results. Nasal crusting (98%) and discharge (46%) were the most common postoperative symptoms. Median time to absence of crusting was 101.0 days, with longer times for complex cases (p = .033) but not for patients with septal flaps or fat grafts. Median time to remucosalization after nasoseptal flap was 89.0 days. There were no risk factors for crusting, although surgical complexity was a risk factor for postoperative discharge (odds ratio [OR] = 5.17). Conclusions. Nasal morbidity following endoscopic skull base surgery is common and may be affected by surgical complexity and use of the nasoseptal flap. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 33: 547-551, 2011