Abstract
Objective: Determine the incidence of complications in endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) in a surgical center with 20 years of experience, and whether or not the surgeon’s experience can be a predisposing factor for them to happen.
Method: The clinical data of the patients submitted to EES between 2006 and 2009 was reviewed, and the perioperative and postoperative complications were evaluated, with a minimum follow-up period of 3 months. For each surgery, the surgeon’s experience and surgery particularities were correlated with the presence of complications.
Results: In the 677 surgeries, the incidence of complications was 7.39% (5.91% minor and 1.48% major). There was no correlation between surgery complications and the years of experience of the main surgeon. When comparing the complication rate between residents and specialists, there were no statistically significant differences between them. Extensive surgeries, revision surgeries, and the presence and grade of polyposis, were associated with a higher rate of complications.
Conclusion: When some rules are imposed, experience is not the key factor in what concerns the presence of complications during ESS. Patients who are submitted to surgery by residents are not at greater risk of complications than those operated on by specialists.
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