RESUMO
This study was performed on 21 healthy rabbits divided into three groups of nasoantral window, ostioplasty and radical antrostomy. One sinus was operated upon and the other side served as control. Exploration was performed after six weeks to record the changes in the size and contents of the sinus cavity as well as the state of the natural and/or artificial window. Then, the animals were sacrificed and their heads were processed for histopathologic evaluation of the cavity, mucosa and submucosa. It was noticed that artificial nasoantral window was associated with high rates of window closure and it did not preclude postoperative infection. Ostioplasty was followed by the least rate of cavity contraction and suppuration. However, it resulted in noticeable changes at the natural ostium. Radical antrostomy was associated with the highest incidence of mucosal and submucosal abnormalities as well as a high infection rate