Indications of the Caldwell-Luc procedure in the era of endoscopic sinus surgery

Surgical treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis is indicated after failure of correctly conducted maximal drug therapy or the occurrence of complications. Radical maxillary sinus surgery has been abandoned nowadays, to the detriment of endoscopic sinus surgery, for several reasons, such as: increased incidence of complications, decreased healing rate compared to the endoscopic technique. The literature cites many situations in which the Caldwell-Luc procedure is used as a first-line surgical technique: recurrent chronic rhinosinusitis, malignant tumors of the maxillary sinus extending to the lateral wall of the nasal fossa and the pterygomaxillary space, the cases where an extensive approach to the pterygopalatine fossa is required – for ligation of the internal maxillary artery or the approach of the vidian canal in vidian neurectomy.

The authors highlight the use of Caldwell-Luc procedure in endoscopic sinus surgery era, by reviewing the complications rates, indications and long-term effectiveness of the two surgical techniques.