For Chronic Sinusitis, Give Antibiotics a Longer Chance to Work Before Surgery

NAPLES, Fla.-Doctors should consider extending the course of antibiotics in patients with chronic sinusitis before giving up on conservative medical therapy and going forward to surgery, according to research presented here at the meeting of the Southern Section of the Triological Society.

In a study of maximal medical therapy in his institution, Marc Dubin, MD, Assistant Professor of Rhinology and Sinus Surgery in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md., determined that adding three weeks to a standard antibiotic program produced added positive results in helping patients clear the stubborn infections.

‘Failure to Respond’ Timeline Uncertain

When a patient presents with chronic sinusitis, the doctor will usually place the individual on maximal medical therapy, he said. However, Dr. Dubin suggested that exactly how long that therapy should last before the patient moves on the next therapeutic step is controversial. Failure to respond, however, represents a major criterion for proposing surgery in these patients.