Morphological assessment of early and delayed reparative processes of the mucous membrane in the localization of laser and traditional rhinoanthrostomes

Many aspects of laser rhinosurgery including the reaction of the nasal mucosa to the effects of a holmium laser, remain controversial to this day. This has allowed us to determine the purpose of our study as the examination of morphological changes in the mucous membrane in the region formed by rhinoantrostomy using both traditional and original (endoscopic laser rhinoantrostomy) techniques. Morphological analysis of 48 samples showed that the formation of the rhinoantrostome using the traditional method significantly more often leads to epithelial metaplasia, multilayered atrophic changes, decreased number of vessels in the mucosa, and a decrease in goblet- and ciliated cell numbers (<i>p</i><0.001) compared to laser treatment. The revealed morphological changes may contribute to the development of stagnation and impaired drainage of nasal secretions from the maxillary sinus in the area formed by the rhinostome in the traditional way, and may provoke the development of postoperative nasal syndrome in the postoperative period. This indicates a significant advantage of using the laser method for rhinostomy.