Does the Timing of Middle Turbinate Resection Influence Quality-of-Life Outcomes for Patients with Chronic Rhinosinusitis?

Objective To evaluate the impact of bilateral middle turbinate resection (BMTR) on patient-reported quality of life following primary and revision endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) for chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Study Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Tertiary care center. Subjects and Methods Patients with CRS who were recruited from 11 otolaryngologic practices completed the Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22, Chronic Sinusitis Survey, and EuroQol 5-Dimension questionnaires at baseline, as well as 3 and 12 months after ESS. In the primary ESS cohort (n = 406), patients who underwent BMTR (n = 78) at the time of surgery were compared with patients (n = 328) whose middle turbinates were preserved. In the revision ESS cohort (n = 363), a similar comparison was made between patients who did (n = 64) and did not (n = 299) undergo BMTR. Results Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22, Chronic Sinusitis Survey, and EuroQol 5-Dimension scores showed similar improvements for both the turbinate resection and preservation cohorts at 3 months ( P < .001) and 12 months ( P < .001) after surgery. For patients who underwent revision surgery, the performance of BMTR resulted in greater improvement in Chronic Sinusitis Survey scores at 1 year as compared with the turbinate preservation group (change from baseline: 28.1 vs 20.7, respectively; P = .026). History of tobacco use and the presence of nasal polyps did not affect clinical outcomes at any time point. Conclusion Patients who underwent BMTR during primary and revision sinus surgery reported similar benefits in quality-of-life outcomes 1 year after surgery. In select patients undergoing revision sinus surgery, the performance of BMTR results in improved disease-specific quality of life.