Conventional versus endoscopic inferior turbinate reduction: technique and results

Different modalities of turbinate reduction procedures are available for treatment of vasomotor rhinitis not responding to appropriate medical therapy. Amongst these, conventional inferior turbinectomy (non-endoscopic) is the most widely performed procedure. With the advent of nasal endoscopes, inferior turbinoplasty has been gaining popularity worldwide. The purpose of this study was to compare the post-operative complaints and hospital stay of conventional versus endoscopic inferior turbinate reduction techniques performed non-randomly on 15 and 21 patients of vasomotor rhinitis respectively from January 1998 to December 1999 at Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (HUKM). A total of 36 patients (22 males and 14 females) with a mean age of 30.6 years underwent turbinate reduction procedures during this period with a post-operative follow up ranging from 3 months to 6.7 months (mean 3.8 months). There was a significant difference between the conventional and the endoscopic technique with regards to nasal discomfort (p = 0.05) and dry throat (p = 0.02) which was less severe when performed endoscopically. The average hospital stay in hours by the endoscopic technique was almost half compared to the conventional technique. Due to the improved visualisation and minimal post-operative complaints and reduced hospital stay, the technique of endoscopic inferior turbinoplasty is currently the procedure of choice at our center. In septoplasty when endoscopic instrument is not needed, the standard turbinate reduction procedure is still performed. The availability of pre and post-operative acoustic rhinomanometric evaluation will be helpful as an objective measurement of nasal symptoms in the near future.