Quality of Life Following Nasal Surgery

Objectives/Hypothesis: This prospective study aimed to investigate changes in quality of life (QOL) after nasal surgery. Study Design: Prospective study Methods: A total of 788 patients (492 Men and 296 women; age range, 9-81 years; mean age, 41 years) were included in this prospective study. Three hundred thirty-six patients received sinus surgery, 358 received septum surgery, and 94 additional patients received sinus surgery involving the septum. QOL was assessed with a standardized questionnaire for general health and well-being (36-Item Short Form Health Survey [SF-36]). Additionally, subjective sinunasal impairment was collected using the Rhinosinusitis Disability Index (RSBI). QOL and subjective sinunasal impairment were retested 4 months after surgery (63-339 days after surgery, mean, 128 days) in 361 patients. Results: In the RSBI severity scale, 29.5% of the patients rated their sinunasal problems presurgery to be of high severity, 61.2% rated them as medium, and 9.3% as minor. Postsurgery, 2.8% of the patients rated the severity of their sinunasal problems high, 35% medium, and 62.2% minor Subjective improvement of symptoms was found in more than 80% of the patients. Presurgery, general QOL (SF-36) was impaired in sinus patients and improved significantly after surgery. For most septum patients we found relatively little impact of sinunasal disease on general QOL (SF-36) compared to the German normative sample. Conclusions: Functional endoscopic surgery seems to be a good technique for reducing sinunasal symptomatology in the majority of patients. It appears to enhance QOL in those patients who were I severely affected beforehand. Long-term investigations are currently underway to further explore the patients' subjective QOL following nasal surgery.