[Surgical strategy in paranasal sinus mucoceles].

Introduction: The aim of this retrospective study is to describe the surgical management of paranasal sinus mucoceles.

Materials & Methods: In the period from 1981 through 2000, 45 patients were treated for symptomatic mucoceles. The mucoceles were most frequently found in the anterior ethmoidofrontal system. 13 patients were operated via a bicoronal transfrontal extradural approach. A complete marsupialization under endonasal endoscopic control was performed in 21 cases. Eleven patients were operated via a trans-facial approach.

Results: The follow up period was 4.7 years (2 to 15 years) on average for endonasal approaches and 11 years on average (2 to 20 years) for the other approaches. All patients were free of complaints immediately after the operation. Nine cases were lost to follow-up. Cysts recurred in 5 patients.

Conclusion: We recommend an endoscopic approach to the treatment of mucoceles as the surgical procedure of choice. In high and lateral extended frontal mucoceles, a trans-frontal extradural approach is still recommended. Long term follow-up is necessary to obtain an accurate assessment of the results.