Endoscopic Sinus Surgery in Geriatric Population

Abstract

Background With the baby boomers getting older, endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) is being performed more on elderly people than before. We compared patients undergoing ESS who were >65 years of age with those <65 years. Materials and Methods We reviewed our database of cases who had ESS between 1992 and 2002. Demographics and patient characteristics and complications encountered intraoperatively and immediately postoperatively were reviewed. Results Forty-six (8.1%) patients were older than 65 years of age compared with 522 patients who were 18–64 years old. The older group had a 24% revision rate compared with 34% in the younger group. Complication rates were 21.7% for the elderly compared with 12.8% for the younger group. There was a significantly higher complication rate in the older group of people who were having revision ESS. Conclusion The elderly people who were having revision surgery had a higher risk for complications compared with those having primary surgery or those <65 years old.