EVALUACIÓN DE LA EFECTIVIDAD DE LOS TRATAMIENTOS PARA LA SINUSITIS CRÓNICA: UN ESTUDIO DESCRIPTIVO CUANTITATIVO

Abstract

This cross-sectional analytical observational study aimed to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of three treatment modalities for chronic sinusitis: pharmacological, surgical and combined. 100 patients divided into three groups according to the treatment received were included. Clinically relevant variables such as severity of symptoms were measured using the SNOT-22 questionnaire, health-related quality of life using the SF-36, need for surgical reintervention, and patient satisfaction. The surgical group showed an improvement in the SNOT-22 score of 60%, significantly greater than the pharmacological group with 20%. In the dimensions of the SF-36, the surgical and combined groups obtained consistently higher scores than the pharmacological. The need for reintervention was lower in the surgical groups and the degree of satisfaction was higher. These results provide evidence of the superiority of surgical treatment, alone or combined, over the isolated medical approach for the effective management of chronic sinusitis. Endoscopic sinonasal surgery is associated with a more favorable and lasting symptomatic response and quality of life compared with drugs alone. The study had limitations such as the small sample size and the cross-sectional design. It is concluded that the combined therapy of pharmacotherapy plus endoscopic sinus surgery is superior in terms of effectiveness for the treatment of chronic sinusitis according to the results of this descriptive study.