Objective: To compare the bacteriological and clinical findings in ethmoid specimens from patients with nasal polyposis after radical ethmoidal surgery.
Patients and methods: From June to November 2008, 60 patients were prospectively included. For each patient, two samples for each ethmoidal cavity were taken. Aerobic and anaerobic bacterial cultures and fungal cultures were processed and the antibiotic susceptibility was evaluated for each isolated bacterial strain.
Results: Pathogenic bacteria were isolated in 48 patients (80%) including predominantly Staphylococcus aureus (60%) or a Gram-negative bacterium. The microorganisms were nearly all susceptible to antibiotics, including the aminoglycosides. No correlation between the presence of pathogenic bacteria and the clinical status of the patients was found.
Conclusion: In this study, a great number of patients was colonized with pathogenic bacteria. However, the presence of pathogenic bacteria was not correlated with the clinical status of the patients.