Antrochoanal polyp: a comparative study of endoscopic endonasal surgery alone and endoscopic endonasal plus mini-Caldwell technique

Antrochoanal polyp (ACP) originates in the maxillary sinus. To diminish the regrowth rate of choanal polyp, a complete removal of the antral portion and its attachment is necessary. There are several methods for this purpose, but in this study two techniques were comparatively investigated. This retrospective study was conducted by analyzing the database of 40 operated patients for ACP, 19 of whom underwent an endoscopic endonasal removal of polyps and 21 experienced endoscopic endonasal surgery with mini-Caldwell operation. The two techniques were compared with regard to their complications and regrowth rate. It emerged that post-operative complications (bleeding, synechia, ostia stenosis) in both groups were mild and there was not any significant difference between the two groups. Out of 19 cases in the endoscopic endonasal surgery group, 4 had recurrences, while in the mini-Caldwell group we had no recurrence. (P = 0.042)). This result implies that, in order to prevent incomplete excision and recurrences, combined approaches (endoscopic endonasal surgery and mini-Caldwell) should be considered, particularly when the attachment site of the antral part of ACP is undetected.