Importance: Sinus balloon catheter dilation (SBCD) has been used for chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). It is necessary to evaluate its effect on children with CRS.
Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of SBCD on pediatric CRS in China.
Design, setting, and participants: A prospective case-control study was conducted from October 1, 2012, to May 31, 2013, in an academic tertiary referral hospital. Participants included a total of 79 patients, aged 7 to 12 years, with CRS resistant to medical therapy.
Interventions: Medical or SBCD treatment of pediatric CRS.
Main outcomes and measures: Age, sex, and results of computed tomographic scan, SBCD (case group) or conservative treatment (control group), sinonasal-5 questionnaire (SN-5), and visual analog scale (VAS) were analyzed and compared.
Results: Data from 79 of 96 patients who had complete follow-up documents were statistically analyzed (42 boys; 37 girls; mean [SD] age, 9.3 [1.7] years). Compared with the preoperative scores, the SN-5 and VAS scores in children with CRS who underwent SBCD with or without adenoidectomy were significantly lower at 3 months (2.5 vs 4.3 for SN-5; P < .001; 3.1 vs 5.2 for VAS; P < .001) and at 1 year (2.9 vs 4.3 for SN-5; P = .001; 3.1 vs 5.2 for VAS; P < .001). Both SN-5 and VAS scores in the control group were significantly decreased at 3 months (3.1 vs 4.2 for SN-5; P = .001; 3.9 vs 5.1 for VAS; P < .001) but not significantly changed at 12 months (3.8 vs 4.2 for SN-5; P = .01; 4.9 vs 5.1 for VAS; P = .54). The SN-5 and VAS scores in the SBCD group were significantly lower than those for controls at 3 months (2.5 vs 3.1 for SN-5; P = .003; 3.1 vs 3.9 for VAS; P = .01) and at 1 year after surgery (2.9 vs 3.8 for SN-5; P < .001; 3.1 vs 4.9 for VAS; P < .001). By the 12-month SN-5 score evaluation, the rates of marked, moderate, and mild improvement were significantly better in the SBCD group (52% [22 of 42], 26% [11 of 42], and 14% [6 of 42], respectively) than in the control group (14% [5 of 37], 19% [7 of 37], and 11% [4 of 37], respectively) (P < .05 for all comparisons).
Conclusions and relevance: The SBCD procedure is a safe and effective technique for pediatric CRS resistant to medical therapy.