American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation
View all recommendations from this societyReleased February 17, 2015
Don’t order more than one computerized tomography (CT) scan of the paranasal sinuses within 90 days to evaluate uncomplicated chronic rhinosinusitis patients when the paranasal sinus CT obtained is of adequate quality and resolution to be interpreted by the clinician and used for clinical decision-making and/or surgical planning.
Computerized tomography scanning is expensive, exposes the patient to ionizing radiation and offers no additional information that would improve initial management. Multiple CT scans within 90 days may be appropriate in patients with complicated sinusitis or where an alternative diagnosis is suspected.
These items are provided solely for informational purposes and are not intended as a substitute for consultation with a medical professional. Patients with any specific questions about the items on this list or their individual situation should consult their physician.
How The List Was Created
1-5: The American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery’s (AAO-HNS) Patient Safety and Quality Improvement (PSQI) Committee was charged with developing the Foundation’s recommendations for the Choosing Wisely® campaign. The PSQI Committee initially sought the input of the Specialty Society Advisory Council (SSAC) and requested each member society submit potential topics along with supporting evidence. From those submissions, an initial list of 20 items was distributed to Academy and Foundation committees and the Guidelines Development Task Force (GDTF) for review.
PSQI Committee leadership reviewed feedback from the committees and identified six potential recommendations for inclusion in the campaign. The six topics were selected based on their supporting evidence (for example, clinical practice guidelines), committee support, and the current use (frequency) of the test or procedure. The members of SSAC ranked the six topics, and the top five topics were submitted to the Foundation board for approval.
6–10: The American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation’s (AAO-HNSF) Patient Safety and Quality Improvement (PSQI) Committee was charged with developing a second AAO-HNSF list. The PSQI Committee sought the input of the Specialty Society Advisory Council (SSAC) and requested each member society submit a list of potential topics along with supporting evidence. From the submissions received, an initial list of proposed topics was developed and distributed to Academy and Foundation committees and the Guidelines Development Task Force (GDTF) for review. Committees were asked to provide their support for any of the proposed topics, reasons why a topic should not be included, as well as identifying any additional topics for consideration along with supporting evidence.
PSQI Committee leadership reviewed all submitted feedback and identified seven potential topics for inclusion in the campaign. The seven topics were selected based on their supporting evidence (for example, AAO-HNSF clinical practice guidelines), committee support, and the current use (frequency) of the test or procedure. The members of SSAC were asked to rank the seven topics; the seven topics were submitted to the AAO-HNSF Board for approval and the top five were submitted to the Choosing Wisely campaign.
AAO-HNS’ disclosure and conflict of interest policy can be found at www.entnet.org.
Sources
Rosenfeld RM, Piccirillo JF, Chandrasekhar SS, Brook I, Kumar KA, Kramper M, Orlandi RR, Palmer JN, Patel, ZM, Peters A, Walsh S, Corrigan MD. Clinical practice guideline: adult sinusitis. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2015 Apr;152(2 Suppl):S1-S39.
