Final answer:
To manage a 47-year-old male with a 2-day history of cough and sinus tenderness, conservative treatment such as analgesics, intranasal corticosteroids, and saline nasal irrigation is appropriate unless bacterial sinusitis is suspected due to severe, prolonged, or worsening symptoms.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question pertains to the most appropriate management for a 47-year-old male who is experiencing a 2-day history of cough and bilaterally tender maxillary sinuses. When assessing and managing sinus-related symptoms, one should consider the duration of symptoms, severity, and presence of signs suggestive of a bacterial infection. The patient's symptoms have been ongoing for a short period of 2 days; if no high fever or significant, purulent nasal discharge is present, and in the absence of severe symptoms like strong facial pain or dental pain, initial management could focus on symptomatic relief.
Conservative treatment might include analgesics for pain relief, intranasal corticosteroids, and saline nasal irrigation. Antibiotic therapy is generally reserved for patients with symptoms of bacterial sinusitis that are either severe, worsening after initial improvement, or persisting beyond 10 days without any signs of improvement. It's also important to consider other causes and complicating factors such as asthma, allergies, and smoking status, as they can influence treatment decisions. A clinical examination and individual history would provide more information to guide the most appropriate management.