Criteria for success in pediatric functional endonasal sinus surgery.

Functional endonasal sinus surgery (FESS) is widely used in the treatment of chronic sinusitis in adults and children. Although success rates of 80% to 93% have been reported, no criteria for success or improvement have been suggested. Standardized measures are needed to assess the outcome of FESS and to compare the results obtained by different surgical teams and for various patient groups. After reviewing the charts of 500 pediatric patients who underwent FESS between July 1987 and June 1992, the authors of this study formalized criteria for assessing the outcome of surgery.