Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-29-2019

Publication Title

Ear, Nose and Throat Journal

Publisher

SAGE Publications

First page number:

1

Last page number:

4

Abstract

Frontal sinus stenting is widely used with the goal of maintaining nasofrontal duct patency after sinus surgery. The general recommendation is to leave stents in place for 6 months; however, prolonged stenting up to 6 years has been reported with no complication. We present the first reported case of frontal sinus posterior table and skull base erosion following prolonged frontal sinus stenting. A 57-year-old female presented with chronic sinusitis and nasal obstruction. Imaging revealed pansinusitis with retained stents in each frontal sinus that were placed 8 years prior. On the right, there was an area of skull base erosion at the tip of the stent. The patient underwent functional endoscopic sinus surgery with polypectomy. The stents were removed, revealing posterior table erosion on the right side but intact mucosa. Two months after surgery, there were no signs or symptoms of cerebrospinal fluid leak or other complications. Recent literature has suggested that prolonged stenting is safe; however, this case highlights a complication with potentially serious outcomes that can result from prolonged stenting. We recommend stent removal once stable nasofrontal duct patency has been achieved. If prolonged stenting is utilized, patients should be closely monitored and consideration should be given to periodic imaging to evaluate stent position.

Keywords

Frontal sinus; Endoscopic sinus surgery; Skull base; Nasofrontal duct; Stent; Chronic sinusitis

Disciplines

Medical Specialties | Medicine and Health Sciences | Surgery

File Format

pdf

File Size

321 KB

Language

English

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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