Septoplasty for nasal obstruction due to a deviated nasal septum in adults: a systematic review

The status of current evidence for the effectiveness of septoplasty is unclear. This systematic review evaluates the effectiveness of a) septoplasty (with or without concurrent turbinate surgery) versus non-surgical management, and b) septoplasty with concurrent turbinate surgery versus septoplasty alone, for nasal obstruction due to a deviated nasal septum in adults.

Eligible for inclusion were randomised controlled trials and non-randomised designs comparing treatment strategies. Risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane's tool. Standardised mean differences and risk differences with 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Substantial heterogeneity between included studies did not allow meta-analyses.

No studies were found comparing septoplasty (with or without concurrent turbinate surgery) to non-surgical management, but 11 articles were included to compare septoplasty with concurrent turbinate surgery to septoplasty alone. Five studies described both subjective and objective outcomes; six studies reported one or the other. Risk of bias was overall high. Although outcomes generally improved after treatment, eight out of nine studies on subjective measures and five out of seven studies on objective measures found no additional benefit of turbinate surgery.

Despite the routine application of septoplasty in clinical practice, the current body of evidence does not support firm conclusions on its effectiveness.