It is generally agreed that ideal surgical intervention consists of the adequate removal of a diseased focus with the least possible trauma to adjacent structures and with a minimum sacrifice of vital functioning tissue. It follows, therefore, that the more radical the procedure necessary for the accomplishment of the first objective the more difficult it becomes to attain the other two. Having these facts in mind one can realize how important it is to appraise the situation thoroughly in a given case before resorting to so-called radical surgical intervention.
Applying this logic specifically to the maxillary sinus and with a full realization of its implications, I have no hesitancy in stating that the Caldwell-Luc operation is the most satisfactory surgical procedure about the nasal accessory sinuses and the one which should yield the highest percentage of good results in conformity with the principles set forth at the beginning of this