TUESDAY, March 31, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis, the addition of vidian neurectomy to endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) is associated with superior improvements in symptoms and nasal function, according to a study published online Feb. 15 in the American Journal of Translational Research.
Yan Guo, from Norinco General Hospital in Xi'an, China, and colleagues examined clinical outcomes of ESS combined with vidian neurectomy versus ESS alone in a study involving 375 patients with allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis treated between 2019 and 2024. Based on treatment protocols, patients were categorized into the ESS-alone group (conventional treatment) or ESS with vidian neurectomy group (combined treatment; 194 and 181 patients, respectively). To balance baseline characteristics, propensity-score matching was applied.
The researchers found that the combined treatment group showed a shorter operative time compared with the conventional treatment group (median, 34 versus 45 minutes), and they had a lower rate of postoperative nasal resistance. The combined treatment group also had significantly lower interleukin (IL)-6 levels, a greater reduction in C-reactive protein, and a more pronounced increase in interferon-γ. More improvement was seen in endoscopic and patient-reported scores, including Lund-Kennedy and the 22-Item Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22). The overall recurrence rate was 19.2 percent; significantly lower recurrence rates were seen in the combined treatment group. Independent predictors of recurrence included ESS alone, smoking, higher preoperative IL-4, higher eosinophil percentage, and higher SNOT-22 scores in a multivariate analysis (odds ratios, 6.017, 3.82, 1.46, 5.932, and 1.442, respectively).
"Patients in the combined group experienced shorter operative times, more effective recovery of nasal airflow, and greater improvements in both endoscopic and patient-reported outcomes," the authors write.