Doctors need more sinusitis research

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A U.S. internist says primary care physicians need new ways of finding better therapies for patients with sinusitis.

Study author Dr. Alexander Chester of Georgetown University Medical Center -- a member of Foxhall Internists, a medical practice in Washington -- says this "information gap" is evident for general practitioners with patients suffering from sinusitis.

The study, published in Ear, Nose & Throat Journal, concludes new information crucial for physicians who care for patients with a chronic case of sinusitis not responding to therapy is "scant and occasionally inaccurate."

Chester says despite 15 years of advances about what is known of the illness, the information isn't making its way to internists because it is not been published in journals or other sources often reviewed by internists, who most often treat sinusitis. For instance, many internists are unaware that chronic sinusitis can cause serious chronic fatigue, Chester says.

"Internists who rely on traditional sources of information provided to their specialty may conclude that chronic rhinosinusitis is not an illness that is often associated with significant morbidity and that endoscopic sinus surgery is not an effective treatment," Chester says in a statement.

Chester advises papers on chronic sinusitis be presented at general internal medicine meetings as well as at specialty meetings but suggests that more studies, review articles and evidence-based analyses need to be submitted to general medical journals for publication.