Background: Limited clinical research exists concerning surgical outcomes for patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and comorbid fibromyalgia. The aim of this study was to determine whether patients with CRS and concurrent fibromyalgia experience quality-of-life (QOL) improvement after endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) and whether this improvement is similar to that seen in patients without fibromyalgia.
Methods: An adult (> or =18 years of age) population (n = 283) with medically refractory CRS was assessed using two disease-specific QOL instruments: the Rhinosinusitis Disability Index (RSDI) and the Chronic Sinusitis Survey (CSS). A nested case-control analysis of matched subjects (n = 18) with and without fibromyalgia was performed to compare pre- and postoperative QOL.
Results: Improvement in postoperative QOL was found in patients with CRS and comorbid fibromyalgia (p < or = 0.004). After controlling for age, gender, and disease severity, this improvement was similar to that seen in patients without fibromyalgia for all RSDI subscales as well as the CSS total and CSS symptom subscales. Patients with fibromyalgia reported significantly less improvement on the CSS medication subscale than patients without fibromyalgia (p = 0.027).
Conclusion: Patients with CRS and comorbid fibromyalgia showed similar improvements in QOL after ESS when compared with patients without fibromyalgia when controlling for age, gender, and disease severity.