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Volume: 61 - Issue: 1

First page: 61 - Last page: 70

Q. Dai - Y.-X. Shi - H.-K. Zhang - X.-L. Song - Q. Liu - K.-Q. Zhao - J.-Y. Yang - L. Wang - X.-C. Sun - H.-M. Yu

Background: Postradiation skull base osteoradionecrosis (ORN) is a severe complication that occurs after radiotherapy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) that can severely affect quality of life (QOL) and be life threatening. Only 13.4%–28.6% of patients can be cured by traditional repeated endoscopic debridement. Here, we introduced salvage endoscopic surgery for skull base ORN patients and evaluated its clinical efficacy.
Methods: This was a prospective, observational, single-arm clinical study. Clinical data from 18 skull base ORN patients who underwent radical endoscopic necrectomy followed by reconstruction using a septal pedicled mucosal flap or temporal muscle flap were included in the study. The endpoint was an overall survival (OS) of 2 years. The numeric rating scale (NRS) scores for pain and foul odor were analyzed to determine the efficacy and safety of this surgery.
Results: A total of 21 patients were recruited, 18 of whom completed the study and were analyzed. All surgeries were successfully performed. During the 2-year study, the OS rate of the entire cohort was 75%. The median NRS score for pain decreased from 6.44±2.62 to 0.50 ±0.71, and the NRS score for foul odor decreased from 1.89±1.08 to 1 after surgery.
Conclusions: Salvage endoscopic necrectomy followed by construction using a septal pedicled mucosal flap or temporal muscle flap is a novel, safe, and effective treatment for ORN in patients with NPC.
Clinical trial registration: This study was approved by the independent ethics committee of the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital of Fudan University (IEC No. 2019095-1). Written informed consent was obtained from all patients. The study was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial registry (ChiCTR2000029327).

Rhinology 61-1: 61-70, 2023