Characteristics of the sample
A total of 56 consecutive patients with unilateral CRS who underwent FESS on the affected side were enrolled. Patients with recurrent disease (n=2) or loss of follow-up (n=12) were excluded. Finally, the 42 patients who completed the 1-year follow-up were enrolled. There were 21 men (50%) and 21 women (50%) with a mean age of 49.9±15.8 years. The preoperative Lund–Mackay CT score and Lund-Kennedy endoscopic score were 4.3±2.3 and 2.6±1.5, respectively. Of these 42 patients, 33 (78.6 %) were diagnosed with CRS without nasal polyps (CRSsNP). According to the disease severity, 21 (50%) received limited surgery and 21 (50 %) received wide opening surgery. The patients who underwent wide opening surgery had significantly higher disease severity as evaluated by CT and sinonasal endoscopy. The demographic and clinicopathological data are shown in Table 1.