Attitudes on and usage of balloon catheter technology in rhinology: A survey of the American Rhinologic Society.

Introduction: Use of balloon catheter dilation in the management of paranasal sinus diseases, including chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and recurrent acute rhinosinusitis, remains controversial. In an effort to gain some clarity about its evolving role, we surveyed members of the American Rhinologic Society (ARS).

Method: Online survey.

Results: ARS Members were sent an invitation by e-mail to participate in an online, anonymous 23-item survey. A total of 231 participants completed the survey, for an overall response rate of 25%. Balloon catheter technology (BCT) played no role in the practices of one-third of all the respondents. Of those who did use BCT, more than 50% performed only 1-4 cases per month on average. This did not differ significantly with practice type (p = 0.2988). The overall use of BCT differed between types of practices with those in private practice reporting greater use of the technology for maxillary and sphenoid sinuses (p = 0.0003 and p = 0.0073, respectively). Participants in private practice appeared significantly more impressed with the results of BCT when compared with those in academia (p = 0.0005) and also thought that patients were more satisfied (p = 0.0002). Opinions toward the strength of available evidence also differed significantly between the two groups (p = 0.0007). Thirty-two respondents had experienced a complication with BCT, although the majority of these did not require any intervention.

Conclusions: ARS members surveyed used BCT infrequently in their practices. Attitudes on the role of this technology in CRS management differed between academic and private practitioners, but, despite this, the volume of reported BCT use was the same. Surgeons are more accepting of the technology now compared with 5 years ago, and many of them believe that their use of BCT will increase in the future.