Abstract

Aim: This study investigated the effect of epinephrine diluted saline-irrigation fluid on intraoperative bleeding during functional endoscopic sinus surgery. Materials and methods: 40 patients with an age range 20-60 years who were candidate for two-sided FESS with or without polyposis involved. After inducing anesthesia, 1/100,000 epinephrine (1.8 cc) was injected locally in the middle turbinate and surgery field was irrigated with simple saline solution without epinephrine. Without epinephrine injection, the right side was irrigated with 1/250,000 epinephrine saline. Blood loss volume, Heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measured and recorded before intubation and also within 10 and 30 minutes intervals after the surgery. Results: The average of bleeding on the right side (washing with epinephrine solution) was significantly lower than the left side. Conclusion: Adding epinephrine to saline irrigation fluid during FESS is recommended as a safe technique in order to reduce intraoperative blood loss. Further studies are recommended to compare different concentrations of epinephrine in larger study population, and investigate irrigation using epinephrine solution with other various techniques individually or in combination in order to verify the findings of the current study and possibly achieve more beneficial technique with less complication.