Endoscopic Polypectomy Performed In Clinic for Chronic Rhinosinusitis With Polyps: The EPIC Randomised Controlled Trial
Chronic rhinosinusitis, also called chronic sinusitis, is a very common life-long disease affecting over 5% of the Canadian population. Its symptoms, including daily facial pain and headache, an inability to breath through the nose and complete smell loss, regularly impair one's ability to work and to enjoy and participate in daily activities. The annual cost of chronic sinusitis to Canada is estimated at $1.3 billion while the government pays an estimated $860 million yearly for chronic sinusitis treatment. Chronic sinusitis with polyps, the most common type of chronic sinusitis, is usually treated with a combination of medications and surgery. Until now, surgical treatment has only been performed in the operating room, at a cost of about $3500 per procedure. But, recent studies have shown that a new procedure, in-clinic polyp removal, can provide an improvement in patient symptoms to levels equal to those for sinus surgery performed in a hospital operating room. Moreover, in clinic polyp removal has additional advantages including a shorter procedure recovery time, a significantly lower cost to the health care system (about one-tenth the cost or $450), and a shorter wait time for treatment. With the proposed pragmatic trial, the investigators will determine whether the in clinic polyp removal procedure is as good as sinus surgery in the operating room at controlling patient symptoms of chronic sinusitis. The investigators will also determine the cost and health-benefits for a patient, the healthcare system and for society of in clinic polyp removal in comparison to sinus surgery done in a hospital operating room. The investigators will then know if this new treatment, in clinic polyp removal, can replace sinus surgery as the standard of care for these patients.
• Age 18 years or older
• Diagnosis of chronic rhinosinusitis with polyps requiring surgical treatment after having been treated with medical therapy as designated by the Canadian clinical practice guidelines for acute and chronic sinusitis. 15
• Bilateral nasal polyps present of Grade ≥ 2 on each side as determined by the Lildholdt scale score measured by nasal endoscopy at the screening visit.
• Must have nasal blockage score greater than or equal to 2 on the sinonasal outcome test SNOT-22 at the screening visit.
• Must have an American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status PS3 classification or less.
• Participants with comorbid asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) must have stable disease with no exacerbations (no emergency room visits, hospitalisations, or oral or parental steroid use for these lower respiratory conditions) within 3 months before the screening visit.
• Must be capable, in the opinion of the investigator, of providing informed consent to participate in the study. Participants must sign an informed consent document indicating that they understand the purpose of and procedures of the study and are willing to participate in the study.