Septoplasty: Assessment with Rhinomanometry

BACKGROUND:
Septoplasty is one of the most common procedures in the domain of otolaryngology; though, few studies have discussed objectively how much successful this procedure is. We intended to use active anterior rhinomanometry to show this and correlation between these objective figures with clinical signs and symptoms.

METHODS:
Overall, 48 patients underwent septoplasty procedure by a single surgeon. Before and one month after surgery, rhinomanometric study (measuring nasal flow and resistance) was done. In that periods, clinical symptoms (nasal obstruction) and signs (nasal impaction seen by rhinoscopy) were recorded by another surgeon, as well.

FINDINGS:
According to history and physical examination, both nasal obstruction and impaction were improved significantly. Nasal flow and nasal resistance improved totally and in each side as well. There significant correlation between obstruction and nasal flow (r=0.34). In 60.4% of patients, strong correlation was found between patient’s satisfaction and clinical findings, as well as a significant but less strong correlation between satisfaction and rhinomanometric findings.

CONCLUSION:Rhinomanometry is able to objectively evaluate the results of septoplasty procedure, so it is a useful and sometimes necessary tool for clinic and research as well as legal issues.

KEY WORDS:
Septoplasty, rhinomanometry, patients satisfaction