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.