An Audit of Endoscopic Sinus Surgery at a Tertiary Hospital in Tanzania

Background: Being a frequently used approach by otorhinolaryngologists, Endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) has been useful in the surgical management of different sinonasal conditions in this era. Although ESS is most commonly performed for inflammatory and infectious sinus diseases, since its introduction in 1960s by Prof. Messserklinger and Wigand, the current advancement in instrumentation has led to an increase in its indications. This study therefore aimed at auditing the ESS done at a tertiary hospital in our settings.

Methodology: This was a retrospective descriptive cross-sectional study which was conducted at Muhimbili National Hospital. It involved all patients who underwent ESS in the department of otorhinolaryngology. Information was extracted from patients’ files, ledger and admission books. The obtained data were analysed using a statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 22. Descriptive statistics were performed to present frequency distribution of the demographic characteristics, indications for ESS and mean for the length of hospital stay.

Results: Out of 1261 surgeries done during the study period, 6.7% (84/1261) were endoscopic sinus surgeries. Of patients who underwent ESS, an almost equal proportion of males and females was found and ages ranged from 8 to 71 years with a mean age of 32 .2 ±16 .9 years. The commonest indication for ESS was sinonasal polyposis 50.0% (42/84) followed by chronic rhinosinusitis 20.4% (17/84). The majority of patients 52.4% (44/84) had a hospital stay of 1- 3 days. The mean length of postoperative hospital stay following ESS in this study was found to be 2.8 days.

Conclusion: Endoscopic sinus surgeries accounted for 6.7% of all surgeries with sinonasal polyposis being the commonest indication and the estimated mean length of postoperative hospital stay being 3 days.