Inferior turbinate reduction: Diode laser or conventional partial turbinectomy?

Hypertrophy of the inferior nasal turbinate is one of the most common causes of nasal obstruction. The diode laser has proven to be as effective as other lasers for this indication. Our objective was to study various outcomes associated with the use of the diode laser, such as improvements in nasal obstruction and postoperative pain, reduction in intraoperative bleeding, and rapidity of healing. A nonrandomized, controlled trial was conducted in which outcomes were compared between diode laser turbinate reduction (LTR) and conventional partial inferior turbinectomy (PIT) in 60 patients, 30 who underwent LTR and 30 who underwent PIT. The improvement in nasal obstruction was measured postoperatively up to 6 months. Intraoperative bleeding was measured and postoperative pain scores were assessed each day up to the fifth postoperative day. Rapidity of healing was evaluated until 6 months postoperatively. Subjective relief of nasal obstruction occurred in 90.8% of the LTR group and 65% of the PIT group at 6 months (p < 0.05). Pain scores were significantly higher until 5 days postoperatively in the PIT group compared with the LTR group (p = 0.0001). Intraoperative bleeding mean scores (ml) were 8.03 in the LTR group and 23.29 in the PIT group (p = 0.00001). Healing was faster in the LTR group at a mean of 3.03 weeks compared with 6.33 weeks in the PIT group (p = 0.00001). Outcomes with the diode laser were better and diode LTR caused less morbidity compared with the conventional technique.