Preoperative Signs and Symptoms as Prognostic Markers in Nasal Septoplasty

Identification of preoperative signs and symptoms that may predict the outcome of surgery is important, for both patient selection and the development of interventions for improving outcomes. The purpose of this study was to assess the value of some selected preoperative signs and symptoms for predicting outcomes of nasal septoplasty. Patients undergoing septoplasty with or without turbinoplasty responded to the Nasal Surgical Questionnaire (NSQ) preoperatively and six months postoperatively. The questionnaire contains visual analogue scales (VAS) for nasal obstruction during the day and at night. We compared preoperative and postoperative VAS scores in patients with unilateral versus bilateral septal deviation and patients with low versus high preoperative scores. Of 446 patients undergoing septoplasty from September 2014 to December 2015 who had responded to the preoperative NSQ, 286 (64.1%) also returned the postoperative version. There was greater improvement in obstruction in patients with preoperative unilateral compared to bilateral septal deviation (day scores, p = 0.04). The grade of deviation and the presence of concomitant bony conchal hypertrophy did not influence results. Patients with lower preoperative VAS scores obtained better end results than those with higher scores (p = 0.04). Type of septal deviation and preoperative VAS scores may aid in predicting outcome of nasal surgery.