Postoperative quality of life in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis

Introduction and Objectives: The Sino-Nasal Outcome Test 22 (SNOT-22) questionnaire has been suggested as the best specific quality of life indicator for sinonasal illnesses. It was recently translated and validated in Portuguese. The objective of our study was to assess improvements after sinonasal endoscopic surgery in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps via SNOT-22. Material and Methods: Every adult patients suffering from chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps and monitored in consultation with the Otolaryngology department at our hospital and subjected to surgery between September 2012 and February 2014 answered to a questionnaire that included SNOT-22 on the day before surgery and 3 months after. SNOT-22 questions were divided into 4 sub-categories: rhinologic symptoms, facial/otological symptoms, sleep disorders and psychological disorders. For the statistic analysis of the results, the SPSS v22 program was used and a level of statistical significance of p < 0.05 was established. Results: 100 patients were included. Total SNOT-22 scores were significantly higher during the pre-operating period (45) when compared to the post-operating period (17.5) (p < 0.01). In the individual assessment of sub-categories, there was also a significant decrease after surgery (p < 0.01). Discussion: Sinonasal endoscopic surgery improves the scores in the SNOT-22 questionnaire for those suffering from chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps. Nevertheless, these patients report higher scores than individuals with no sinonasal illness. Conclusions: Sinonasal endoscopic surgery improves the quality of life of those patients suffering from chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps.