As healthcare delivery gets more complicated with Obamacare, payers and patients are going to demand data that supports certain procedures or treatments for either satisfactory or unsatisfactory outcomes. One of the more difficult things to measure is the effects of sinus surgery. We have known for years that people suffering from chronic sinusitis have poor quality of life as measured on a validated questionnaire. Recent published papers have shown that the Rhinosinusitis Disability Index (RSDI), the Chronic Sinusitis Survey(CSS), and the Sinonasal Outcomes Test (SNOT-22) are valid measures for following patient outcomes with chronic sinusitis. Even though these measure slightly different quality of life indicators, they all have validity in measuring outcomes. These surveys,which we have used for a number of years, allows us to measure the treatment effects of medication and surgery.
Another recently published paper in the International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology showed that patients undergoing endoscopic sinus surgery had improvement in postoperative quality of life scores. This was noted even for patients who had undergone multiple procedures. The difference in improvement was greatest in patients undergoing their first surgery; patients undergoing multiple procedures also noted improvement as well. This points to the fact that patients do get better, and feel better after endoscopic sinus surgery.
