169 / 236
Post-FESS long-term macrolide therapy for NP
FIGURE 2.
Evaluation of SNOT-20 values, mean questionnaire scores
(*
p
<
0.05). SNOT-2
=
20-item SinoNasal Outcomes Test.
TABLE 2.
SNOT-20 evaluation (points)
Visits
Group 1
(antibiotics
24 weeks)
Group 2
(antibiotics
12 weeks)
Group 3
(control no
antibiotic)
Baseline
2.20
±
0.54
2.64
±
0.49
2.44
±
0.18
6 weeks
0.31
±
0.09
*
0.63
±
0.31
0.85
±
0.35
12 weeks
0.52
±
0.19
*
0.69
±
0.26
0.95
±
0.24
24 weeks
0.68
±
0.32
0.57
±
0.17
*
1.33
±
0.44
*Significant differences between study and control groups (
p
<
0.05).
SNOT-20
=
20-item SinoNasal Outcome Test.
subjects. However, SNOT-20 scores of patients in group 1
(antibiotics for 24 weeks) at visits 6 weeks and 12 weeks af-
ter FESS (0.31
±
0.09 and 0.52
±
0.19, respectively) as well
as SNOT-20 scores of patients in group 2 (antibiotics for
12 weeks) at the final visit (0.57
±
0.17) were significantly
better than the patients in group 3 (control no antibiotics)
at the same visits; 0.85
±
0.35, 0.95
±
0.24, and 1.33
±
0.44, respectively (
p
<
0.05), (Fig. 2, Table 2).
VAS scores
Differences in changes of VAS scores between the study
(groups 1 and 2) and the control group (group 3 no antibi-
otics) did not reach statistical significance (Table 3).
Olfactory test
Severe olfactory dysfunction was detected in all study sub-
jects prior to FESS. Complete or almost complete loss of
the ability to identify odors (anosmia) was noted when
the nose was totally obstructed (blocked) by diffuse nasal
polyps. None of these 66 patients received systemic steroids
prior to FESS. At the second and third visits, olfaction sig-
nificantly improved in all 3 patient groups, although no pa-
TABLE 3.
VAS evolution (points)
Visits
Group 1
(antibiotics
24 weeks)
Group 2
(antibiotics
12 weeks)
Group 3
(control no
antibiotic)
Baseline
8.1
±
0.7
8.7
±
0.9
7.7
±
0.9
6 weeks
1.4
±
0.5
2.0
±
0.9
1.8
±
0.5
12 weeks
1.4
±
0.5
2.1
±
0.9
2.2
±
0.6
24 weeks
1.6
±
0.5
2.2
±
0.5
3.0
±
1.1
VAS
=
visual analogue scale.
TABLE 4.
Sniffin’ Sticks test (points)
Visits
Group 1
(antibiotics
24 weeks)
Group 2
(antibiotics
12 weeks)
Group 3
(control no
antibiotic)
Baseline
2.4
±
0.9
0.9
±
0.8
2.2
±
1.3
6 weeks
9.5
±
1.3
*
6.4
±
2.1
4.4
±
0.5
12 weeks
9.0
±
1.7
9.1
±
2.4
5.6
±
2.2
24 weeks
8.8
±
1.6
8.6
±
2.7
6.7
±
2.1
*Significant differences between study and control groups (
p
<
0.05).
TABLE 5.
Saccharin transit time (minutes)
Visits
Group 1
(antibiotics
24 weeks)
Group 2
(antibiotics
12 weeks)
Group 3
(control no
antibiotic)
Baseline
15.6
±
4.1
20.4
±
6.4
22.8
±
3.7
6 weeks
13.8
±
3.2
14.6
±
4.9
19.7
±
3.6
12 weeks
13.6
±
3.0
*
18.6
±
3.7
21.0
±
4.1
24 weeks
11.9
±
2.7
17.4
±
3.0
15.8
±
1.5
*Significant differences between study and control groups (
p
<
0.05).
tients reached normal values. Statistically significant differ-
ence in the mean number of correct answers (
p
<
0.05) was
revealed only between group 1 (antibiotics for 24 weeks)
(9.5
±
1.3) and group 3 (control no antibiotics) (4.4
±
0.5)
at the second visit 6 weeks after surgery (Table 4).
Saccharin transit time
Similarly, 12 weeks after surgery significant reduction (im-
provement) of the saccharin transit time was observed in
group 1 (antibiotics for 24 weeks) (13.6
±
3.0 minutes)
as compared with group 3 (control no antibiotics) (21.0
±
4.1 minutes) (Table 5).
AR and AAR
There was no significant difference in the acoustic rhi-
nometry parameters (nasal cavity volume, minimal cross-
sectional area) between all groups. However, nasal resis-
tance measured by anterior rhinomanometry in group 1
International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology, Vol. 4, No. 7, July 2014
147