The use of topical corticoid (MF) in the preoperative period can improve endoscopic vision, reduce bleeding, and decrease operation time in CRS patients with and without polyps undergoing ESS, but our sample size cannot exclude small, and possibly trivial, group differences.

The management of labyrinthine fistula is a controversial issue. Hearing preservation represents a major challenge. Retrospective study of 31 patients with labyrinthine fistula confirmed intra-operatively during cholesteatoma surgery. In all cases, total matrix removal was performed, and the fistula covered with bone dust, periostium and/or cartilage. Twenty-five patients received a high intra-operative dosage (500 mg) of intravenously applied steroids at least 15 min before handling the fistula. Outcome measurements included comparison of the pre-operative and post-operative bone conduction to assess inner ear function. The results were, the fistula was located in the lateral semicircular canal (LSC) in 22 patients (71.8%) and in the oval window in eight. One patient had a double localization in the superior and lateral semicircular canals. Out of the LSC fistulas, five patients (16.12%) had a fistula type I, 8 had type IIa (25.8%), four (12.9%) type IIb, and six patients type III (19.35%). Three out of eight patients with fistula located in the oval window had a total absence of the footplate, other four presented a partial anterior resorption at the level of the fissula antefenestram and the remaining one had a fractured platina. Pre-operatively, the bone conduction displayed a mean threshold of 35 dB. Twenty-two (85%) out of 26 patients treated intra-operatively with steroids showed preservation or improvement of bone conduction. Patients with fistulas of the oval window, type I, IIa and III fistulas in the LSC treated with cortisone presented good sensorineural hearing outcome (preservation or significant improvement of inner ear function in the majority of cases-91%); the auditory results for group IIb were inconclusive. Five patients did not receive steroids, four of them developed partial sensorineural hearing loss and one went deaf. To conclude, cholesteatoma surgery with a single-staged matrix removal on perilymphatic fistulas, after intra-operative intravenous administration of a high dosage of steroids followed by a multilayer closure of the fistula achieved a hearing preservation or improvement in 85% of our patients.

The MIMA technique is useful for removing severe disease that can not be reached through the MMA and yields both better subjective and better objective outcomes. The additional inferior antrostomy most likely improves drainage and ventilation in the postoperative period.

It is acknowledged that many causes of failures in endoscopic sinus surgery are related to scarring and narrowing of the maxillary antrostomy. We assessed the effect of low-pressure spray cryotherapy in preventing the maxillary antrostomy stenosis in a chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) rabbit model. A controlled, randomized, double-blind study was conducted on 22 New Zealand rabbits. After inducing unilateral rhinogenic CRS, a maxillary antrostomy was performed and spray cryotherapy was employed on randomly selected 12 rabbits, while saline solution was applied to the control group (n = 10). The antrostomy dimensions and the histological scores were assessed 4 weeks postoperatively. The diameter of cryotreated antrostomy was significantly larger at 4 weeks than that in the control group. At 4 weeks, the maxillary antrostomy area in the study group was significantly larger than the mean area in the control group (103.92 ± 30.39 mm2 versus 61.62 ± 28.35 mm2, P = 0.002). Submucosal fibrous tissues and leukocytic infiltration in saline-treated ostia were more prominent than those in cryotreated ostia with no significant differences between the two groups regarding the histological scores. Intraoperative low-pressure spray cryotherapy increases the patency of the maxillary antrostomy at 4 weeks postoperatively with no important local side effects.