Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Aim: To determine the trans-nasal endoscopic repair of cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhoea. Materials: A retrospective study was carried out in the Department of ENT. 23 patients (15 males and 8 females) who had CSF rhinorrhoea and underwent trans-nasal endoscopic repair in Department of ENT. Patients were assessed for demographic profile, etiology of CSF leak and its duration, endoscopic findings, radiographic findings, location of leak, surgical repair and post-operative outcome. Inclusion criteria were cases with defect size less than 1.5 cms; cases involving cribriform, ethmoid, sphenoid or frontal recess region of skull base. Results: Etiological factor for CSF leak was found to be accidental trauma in 60.87% cases. In 3 patient cause was iatrogenic resulting from polypectomy. Spontaneous rhinorrhoea was observed in 26.08% subjects. Majority of patients (78.26%) presented with intermittent leaks whereas 21.74% were suffering from continuous type of leakage. 34.78percent of cases had 1-2 episodes of meningitis. Conclusion: Endo-nasal endoscopic closure is a safe and effective technique for repair of CSF rhinorrhoea. There is minimal intranasal trauma. An overall rate of successful repair was 100%. No surgical complications were encountered in present series. Etiology of leak and size of defect did not have any adverse effect on surgical outcome.