Frontitis is an inflammation of the frontal sinus, one of the forms of sinusitis. It proceeds much more severely than the inflammation of others within the nasal sinuses. Insufficient drainage of the frontal sinus, due to hypertrophy of the middle nasal concha, deviated nasal septum, contributes to the transition of acute sinusitis to chronic.
The reasons
- rhinitis (runny nose) – infectious or allergic,
- deviated septum (congenital or acquired)
- difficulty in nasal breathing due to hypertrophy of the turbinates, adenoids (in babies);
- the existence in the body of foci of chronic infection (for example, staphylococcus aureus);
- weakening of the immune system.
Symptoms
Clinically noted pain in the forehead, especially in the morning, impaired nasal breathing and discharge from the corresponding half of the nose. The pain, not often unbearable, acquires a neuralgic character. In severe cases, eye pain, photophobia, and impaired sense of smell are observed.
The headache subsides after the emptying of the sinus and resumes as the outflow of its contents becomes difficult. In acute influenza frontitis, the body temperature is elevated, sometimes the skin color over the sinus is changed, there is swelling and swelling in the forehead and upper eyelid. Palpation and percussion of the facial wall and the region of the upper inner corner of the orbit are painful.
Diagnostics
Rhinoscopy reveals the presence of a discharge under the anterior end of the middle new shell. This section of the shell is edematous and thickened. In chronic frontal sinusitis, polyps or hypertrophy of the mucous membrane around the nasal passage are revealed.
To clarify the diagnosis, additional research methods are used: probing, radiography.
Treatment
Treatment for acute frontal sinusitis is conservative. The outflow of discharge from the sinus is provided by repeated lubrication of the mucous membrane of the middle nasal passage with vasoconstrictor drugs or by instillation into the nose. In the first days of the disease, bed rest, taking acetylsalicylic acid, analgin, inhalation of antibiotic aerosols, physiotherapy (heating with a blue light lamp, solux, UHF therapy) are recommended. In severe cases, intramuscular antibiotics are indicated. In chronic frontal sinusitis, in cases of unsuccessful application of conservative methods of treatment, surgical intervention may be indicated.