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Nasal valve surgery improves disease-specific quality of life
John S Rhee1, David M Poetker, Timothy L Smith
1Department of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. jrhee@mcw.edu
The Laryngoscope
|March 4, 2005
Summary
Surgical repair of the nasal valve significantly improves quality of life for patients with nasal obstruction. Physician assessment of obstruction severity correlates with patient-reported outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Otolaryngology
- Rhinology
- Quality of Life Research
Background:
- Nasal valve compromise causes symptomatic nasal obstruction.
- Disease-specific quality of life (QOL) in these patients remains understudied.
- Surgical intervention is a common treatment for nasal obstruction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of nasal valve surgery on disease-specific QOL.
- To identify predictors of QOL outcomes after nasal valve surgery.
Main Methods:
- Prospective, multi-institutional study of 20 patients with nasal obstruction and nasal valve compromise.
- Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scale used for QOL assessment preoperatively and at 3 and 6 months post-surgery.
- Physician visual analogue scale (VAS) used for obstruction severity assessment.
Main Results:
- Mean NOSE scores significantly improved from baseline to 3 and 6 months post-surgery (P < .0001).
- Significant improvement in NOSE scores was also observed between 3 and 6 months post-surgery (P = .0077).
- Physician VAS scores correlated significantly with baseline NOSE scores (P = .013) and 6-month change in NOSE scores (P = .0015).
Conclusions:
- Surgical repair of the nasal valve effectively improves disease-specific QOL in patients with symptomatic nasal obstruction.
- Physician assessment of nasal obstruction severity is a significant predictor of patient-reported QOL outcomes.