Published: January 20, 2022
Taylor & Francis Online
Objective: To compare healthcare resource use (HCRU) in patients undergoing sinus surgery with or
without steroid-eluting sinus implants
Methods: A retrospective, observational cohort study using real-world evidence data (OM1, Inc,
Boston, MA, USA) was conducted on adult patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) with or without
nasal polyps who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery between 2014 and 2019 and had at least 18
months of data both before and after surgery. Patients receiving implants (“implant cohort”) were
matched to patients who did not receive implants (“non-implant cohort”) based on a propensity score
developed using baseline characteristics. Chi-square for binary variables and analysis of variance tests
for continuous variables were applied to compare HCRU measures.
Results: Comparison of the implant (N ¼ 1983) and non-implant (N ¼ 1983) cohorts during the 18-
month follow-up period demonstrated significantly lower HCRU in those receiving implants, including
all-cause outpatient visits (94.3% vs. 96.6%, p < .001), all-cause otolaryngologist visits (47.3% vs. 59.6%,
p < .001) and all cause ER/urgent care visits (9.2% vs. 11.8%, p ¼ .007), as well as sinus-related endoscopies (39.1% vs. 43.8%, p ¼ .003). Although not statistically significant, fewer patients in the implant
cohort had undergone repeat surgeries (4.6% vs. 5.3%, p ¼ .273).
Conclusion: Patients with steroid-eluting sinus implants had lower HCRU over a post-operative period
of 18 months. These findings support the contention that reductions in HCRU may be achieved using
steroid-eluting implants during sinus surgery.