A Maxillary Sinusitis after Sinus Lift Surgery

Clinical image

A 36-years old female underwent maxillary right sinus lift using lateral window approach with hydroxyapatite bone graft before the placement of osseo integrated dental implants. At three months post-surgery, the patient complained right facial pain. A CT scan revealed that the bone graft was scattered in the right maxillary sinus and that thickened soft tissue completely blocked the right maxillary sinus ostium (Figure 1). From these findings, we diagnosed that the complication of sinus lift surgery is the cause for her right facial pain. Although patients with anatomic variant of ostio-meatal units, which can block the ostium, such as the presence of Haller cell, showed a statistically significant higher rate of postoperative sinusitis than without the presence [1], we did not observe such variant in this case. Thus, we envision that the further pursuit of the etiology of maxillary sinusitis after sinus lift surgery leads to prevent the complication.

    

    

    Figure 1:  CT scan of sinuses, axial and coronal views of the maxillary sinus.