Acute maxillary sinusitis: symptoms, microbiology and treatment
Generally, acute maxillary sinusitis is related to viral infections of the upper respiratory tract. However, other factors, such as dental problems may also cause acute maxillary sinusitis. The sinusitis symptoms affect day-to-day life, including school / office and leisure activities. Some of the common symptoms follow:
Headache
Painful sensation
Maxillary tooth pain
Facial pressure or pain
Swelling over the sinus
Moderate to severe nasal obstruction
Pus coming out from the middle meatus
Extremely stale and bad smelling breath
Pain may vary from moderate to severe.
Pain increases while pressing the maxilla.
Numbness in maxillary premolars and molars
Posterior and / or anterior nasal drainage (rhinorrhea)
Pain may occur in different parts such as ear, posterior teeth and cheek.
Microbiology
The acute maxillary sinusitis microbiology is well defined. The main pathogens are facultative anaerobic and aerobic bacteria. The facultative anaerobes depend on fermentation process for energy required to grow when oxygen is inadequate, and use oxygen if it is available in sufficient amount. The following bacteria have been found in the adult patients with acute maxillary sinus symptom (s):
Anaerobes
Enterobacter
Escherichia coli
Haemophilus influenze
Moraxella catarrhalis
Neisseria coli
Pesudomonas aeruginosa
Staphylococcus aureous
Streptococcus penumoniae Streptococcus sp
There are two (2) types of strains of the facultative gram-negative coccobacillus Haemophilus influenzae: encapsulated and unencapsulated. The unencapsulated strains cause bronchitis, otitis media, sinusitis and other infections of upper respiratory tract. Streptococcus penumoniae, a ά-hemolytic group of streptococci, are resistant to various antibiotics. The aerobic and gram-negative coccobacilli Moraxella catarrhalis are also resistant to some isolates.
These three bacteria also cause acute maxillary sinus symptom(s) in children. However, Moraxella catarrhalis-related infections are common in children than adults, since respiratory aerosols spread the infection.
Treatment Acute maxillary sinusitis lasts for four or less weeks and sinus symptom(s) appear suddenly. Subacute maxillary sinusitis signs persist from four (4) to twelve (12) weeks. If treated in time and completely, acute maxillary sinusitis is resolved fully. The therapy may consist of intranasal corticosteroids, nasal lavage and vasoconstrictors. The oral treatment may include antibiotics, analgesics, mucolytics and antipyretics. The acute sinusitis caused by H. influenzae, S. pneumoniae or M. catarrhalis can be treated with macrolides.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeating visits. If you click on "Accept all", you agree to the use of ALL cookies. However, you can visit "Cookie Settings" to give controlled consent.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
