OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of nasal lavage with and without mupirocin after endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery.
METHODS: A pilot randomised, controlled trial was conducted on 20 adult patients who had undergone endoscopic endonasal approaches for skull base lesions. These patients were randomly assigned to cohorts using nasal lavages with mupirocin or without mupirocin. Patients were assessed in the out-patient clinic, one week and one month after surgery, using the 22-item Sino-Nasal Outcome Test questionnaire and nasal endoscopy.
RESULTS: Patients in the mupirocin nasal lavage group had lower nasal endoscopy scores post-operatively, and a statistically significant larger difference in nasal endoscopy scores at one month compared to one week. The mupirocin nasal lavage group also showed better Sino-Nasal Outcome Test scores at one month compared to the group without mupirocin.
CONCLUSION: Nasal lavage with mupirocin seems to yield better outcomes regarding patients' symptoms and endoscopic findings.
METHOD: Prevalence of the anterior ethmoid genu, its morphology and its relationship with the frontal sinus drainage pathway was assessed. Computed tomography scans with multiplanar reconstruction were used to study non-diseased sinonasal complexes.
RESULTS: The anterior ethmoidal genu was present in all 102 anatomical sides studied, independent of age, gender and race. Its position was within the frontal sinus drainage pathway, and the drainage pathway was medial to it in 98 of 102 cases. The anterior ethmoidal genu sometimes extended laterally and formed a recess bounded by the lamina papyracea laterally, by the uncinate process anteriorly and by the bulla ethmoidalis posteriorly. Distance of the anterior ethmoidal genu to frontal ostia can be determined by the height of the posterior wall of the agger nasi cell rather than its volume or other dimensions.
CONCLUSION: This study confirmed that the anterior ethmoidal genu is a constant anatomical structure positioned within frontal sinus drainage pathway. The description of anterior ethmoidal genu found in this study explained the anatomical connection between the agger nasi cell, uncinate process and bulla ethmoidalis and its structural organisation.
METHODS: This is a prospective observational study of 201 patients who underwent endoscopic nasojejunal wire-guided feeding tube insertions for obstruction of either the esophagus or the stomach including both benign and malignant pathologies between January 2015 to June 2018 in Hospital Sungai Buloh and Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Malaysia. The indications for tube insertion, insertion technique, and tube-related problems were described.
RESULTS: The nasojejunal tube was used to establish enteral feeding in patients with obstructing tumors of the distal esophagus in 65 patients (32.3%) and gastric outlet obstruction in 72 patients (35.8%). There were 54 patients (26.9%) who required reinsertion. The most common reason for reinsertion was unintentional dislodgement, where 32 patients (15.9%) followed by tube blockage 20 patients (10.0%). Using our method of advancement under direct vision, we had only 2 cases of malposition due to severely deformed anatomy. We had no incidence of aspiration in this group of patients and overall, the patients tolerated the tube well.
CONCLUSIONS: The novel nasojejunal feeding tube with gastric decompression function is a safe and effective method of delivery of enteral nutrition in patients with upper gastrointestinal obstruction. These tubes if inserted properly are well tolerated with almost no risk of malposition and are tolerated well even for prolonged periods of time until definitive surgery could be performed.