Evidence of chronic sinusitis alleviation after open sinus allogeneic bone augmentation with simultaneous implant placement: A long-term retrospective observational study.

BACKGROUND

Severe maxillary atrophy often complicates dental implant placement in the posterior maxilla. While sinus elevation is a well-established solution, its impact on pre-existing chronic sinusitis remains underexplored. AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the open sinus elevation technique with simultaneous implant placement on chronic sinusitis.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis was performed on a cohort of patients who underwent the procedure. From this source population, eleven sinuses (30.6%) with radiographically and clinically confirmed pre-operative chronic sinusitis were identified as the study cohort. Assessment involved pre- and postoperative radiographic evaluation of sinus pathology and clinical evaluation using the SNOT-22 questionnaire, tabulated by an ENT specialist.

RESULTS

Postoperative assessment revealed complete resolution of sinusitis in nine cases and partial resolution in two. Radiographically, preoperative fluid levels were eliminated or significantly reduced in all cases. Clinically, a statistically significant decrease in SNOT-22 scores was observed post-operatively (P-value = 0.003, Wilcoxon signed-rank test), with a large effect size (0.887).

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest that open sinus elevation with simultaneous implant placement may lead to the resolution of chronic sinusitis symptoms, as evidenced by significant radiographic and clinical improvement. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study protocol was approved by the Suez Canal University Ethical Committee (No: 2024/518) and prospectively registered on Clinical trials.gov no: clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06773494; Date: 14 January 2025).