Silastic Stent Study
Silastic Stent Study
Endoscopic skull base surgery is a relatively new procedure that is now a standard of care
 for surgeries at the base of the skull; however there are no studies that examine the healing
 process of the nasal lining with the use of silastic (silicone) stents (or splints) that
 might be placed at the time of surgery. While there is some evidence to suggest that the use
 of stents improves wound healing, the decision to use a stent or not is currently up to the
 preference of the surgeon. To investigate the impact of stents on post-surgical healing, the
 investigators at Vancouver General Hospital will compare patients undergoing trans-sphenoidal
 pituitary surgeries with septal flap reconstruction with the use of silastic stents to line
 the septal donor site, and compare their recovery to those who did not receive stents. The
 investigators hypothesize that the use of silastic stents in endonasal surgery increases the
 rate of mucosal healing, and better quality mucosal regeneration, and with no effect on the
 patients experience after surgery. In this randomized control trial the investigators aim to
 recruit 26 (13 in each arm) study participants. The primary outcome is to determine the
 effect of silastic stunting on healing of the naso-septal flap donor site. This objective
 will be achieved by assessment of endoscopic photographs of healing tissue and histologic
 assessment of healing tissues. The secondary outcome involves questionnaires that measure the
 patient's subjective nasal symptoms prior to and following endoscopic skull based surgery.
 Total time commitment for the study participant is about 4 months across 4 study visits (all
 of which are part of standard of care): the assessment visit, surgery, 4 weeks post-operative
 follow up visit and 12 week post-operative follow up visit.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  patients undergoing trans-sphenoidal endoscopic pituitary surgery at their first
 post-operative appointment

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  patients with inflammatory sinus conditions

 -  patients having undergone extensive skull base reconstructions

 -  patients having received previous radiotherapy