Birth trauma and nasal septal deformity in neonates

The prevalence of nasal septal deformity and its relationship with the different types and difficulty of delivery were studied in a randomised group of newborns at the Maternity Hospital Kuala Lumpur between 1st November 1989 to 31st January 1990. Out of a total of 674 noses examined using the otoscope, 147 (21.8%) were found to have nasal septal deformity. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of nasal septal deformity in the different types of delivery. There was also no significant increase in the prevalence of nasal septal deformity with increasing degree of difficulty of the delivery. Therefore, we cannot then attribute parturition pressures or birth trauma as the etiology of these congenital nasal septal deformity. Nevertheless a policy of routine screening in view of early correction is advocated to decrease the morbidity associated with this deformity in newborns and children.