Acute paranasal sinusitis related to nasotracheal intubation of head-injured patients.

One hundred eleven head-injured patients were examined for paranasal sinusitis during early convalescence. Glascow coma scale (GCS) was less than 8 in 79 patients. Ninety-three patients had sustained blunt injuries, and 18 had penetrating ones. Sixty-five orotracheal intubations (OTI) and 31 nasotracheal intubations (NTI) were performed at the scene or on hospital arrival. Fifteen patients were not tracheally intubated. Paranasal sinus air fluid levels (AFL) were present in 30 patients on their admitting computerized tomography scans. Paranasal sinusitis developed in 19 patients with a mean GCS of 5.4 +/- 3.3 (SD). Sixteen of the 19 had NTI, and three had OTI (p less than .05). Of 30 patients with AFL, sinusitis occurred in 13. Ten of these 13 had NTI, and three had OTI (p less than .05). Penetrating injury did not increase the risk of sinusitis (p greater than .1). Seventeen of the 19 infections were polymicrobial. Sinusitis after head trauma is related to NTI, AFL, and severity of head injury.