Study subjects
This study was approved by the ethics committee of the first affiliated
hospital of Soochow University (No. 215). A total of 31 patients with
CRS treated with functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) were
included after informed consent from April 2021 to May 2021 in the
otolaryngology department of the first affiliated hospital of Soochow
University. The basic information and clinical characteristics of these
patients were displayed in Table 1. The diagnosis of sinus disease was
based on clinical symptoms and related examinations such as nasal
endoscopy, and computed tomography (CT), according to the guidelines of
the European Position Paper on Rhinosinusitis and Nasal Polyps 2020
(EPOS2020) and Chinese guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of chronic
rhinosinusitis (2018). Participants whose age ranged from 18 to 70 were
included. Our study excluded patients treated with oral, nasal, or
systematic corticosteroids or antibiotics, antileukotrienes 4 weeks
preceding the operation, patients suffering from upper respiratory tract
infections 4 weeks preceding the operation as well as patients
developing immune disorders, pregnancy, malignancy such as
nasopharyngeal carcinoma, carcinoid such as inverting papilloma. At the
same time, subjects who had CRS because of specific causes, cystic
fibrosis, fungal sinusitis, vasculitis, or primary ciliary dyskinesia
were excluded.
Preoperative demographic information including sex, age, phone number,
and drug allergies was obtained from each patient. Medical history
including rhinorrhea, nasal blockage, hyposmia, facial pressure or pain,
headache, duration, and prior nasal surgery was recorded carefully.
Rhinology specialists classified CRS into CRSwNP and CRSsNP through
nasal endoscopy and CT, into ECRS and Non-eCRS through the following HE
staining. CT findings were graded according to the Lund–Mackay method.
Blood samples were taken to perform complete blood cell counts.
Recurrence of CRS was defined as the presence of nasal polyps after
nasal endoscopy.