Cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhoea: does fibrin glue change the surgical outcome?

Abstract

Objective: Cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhoea takes place when there is a breakdown of the barriers separating the nasal cavity from the subarachnoid space. The aim of this study was to assess the surgical outcomes of endoscopic transnasal cerebrospinal fluid leak repair with and without fibrin glue.

Method: There were 43 patients with cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhoea who underwent surgery for cerebrospinal fluid leak repair between 2014 and 2018. Patients were divided into group A, where fibrin glue was used, and group B, where fibrin glue was not used.

Results: It was found that 74.4 per cent of cases were due to spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid leak. The most common site of a leak was the cribriform plate (65 per cent). There was a success rate of 96.1 per cent (25 of 26) in group A and 83 per cent (15 of 17) in group B. There was no statistically significant difference between the results of the two groups (chi-square test: p = 0.31).

Conclusion: There was no statistically significant difference in the results of cerebrospinal fluid leak repair with and without fibrin glue.

Keywords: CSF Leak; CSF Leak Repair; Cerebrospinal Fluid Rhinorrhoea; Endoscopic Transnasal CSF Leak Repair; Fibrin Glue.