Endoscopic single-handed septoplasty with batten graft for caudal septum deviation

Septoplasty is usually performed with a Killian incision in Japan. However, the major drawback of the Killian incision is the inability to correct deviations of the caudal part of the septum. For patients with mild deviation of the caudal part of the septum but with a straight caudal end, we performed a modified Killian incision and used a batten graft to correct the deviated cartilage under endoscopy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of our surgical technique for these cases.

We prospectively collected data of 17 patients who underwent endoscopic septoplasty with a batten graft. Objective assessment by computed tomography and subjective assessment by questionnaire were performed before and 3 months after the surgery.

On computed tomography, the ratio of the area of the convex side to that of the concave side in the anterior portion of the nasal cavity was significantly improved after surgery (p<0.001). Subjective assessment revealed a significant improvement in nasal obstruction (p=0.002). There were no complications in this study.

The herein-described septoplasty with a batten graft is technically easy and considered to be useful for deviation of the caudal part of the septum in selected cases.