A randomised trial of flexible versus rigid nasendoscopy in outpatient sinonasal examination

Nasendoscopy is used extensively in ENT clinics both as a diagnostic tool and for local postoperative care. Both flexible and rigid fibreoptic scopes are available for the purpose of sinonasal examination. A prospective study of a flexible versus rigid endoscope was carried out, randomly assigning one type of scope to each nostril of 56 patients presenting to clinic with sinonasal symptomatology. Patients awarded each type of scope a pain score on an analogue scale, according to the level of discomfort experienced, and the operator noted the number of structures seen. Significantly more structures were visualized with the rigid scope than the flexible scope (P = 0.05). The pain scores were similarly in favour of the rigid scope, showing a trend to less discomfort. The rigid nasendoscope is the scope of choice for sinonasal examinations in the outpatient clinic based on these data.