Comparison of the Modified Version of DRAF III to the Conventional DRAF III: A 5 Year Study

A modification is made to the conventional way of doing Draf III by completely avoiding burrs by using only gouges and punches to reduce the postoperative narrowing followed by local instillation of budesonide solution. The results are compared. The comparison was made in terms of surgical duration, frontal ostium size, and recurrence of pathology. This is a prospective non-randomised comparative study in a private practice setting. 25 patients (15 males and 10 females) who underwent Draf III surgery between April 2012 and March 2017 were included in the study. Among them, 14 patients were assigned surgery only with punches and gouges. All the patients were given budesonide nasal instillation postoperatively. Outcomes measured included surgical duration, frontal neo-ostium size and, recurrence of pathology. They were followed up for a period of 14 months. The Student's independent t test and χ² test for independence of attributes were used for statistical analysis. The mean surgical duration for modified Draf III was significantly shorter than conventional Draf III (p value < 0.01). The frontal ostium remained patent in modified Draf III than the Draf III using burrs with a statistical significance (p value < 0.01). The number of cases reporting the absence of recurrence was significantly higher (p value < 0.001) in modified Draf III. Modified Draf III technique, which completely avoids the burr, takes only lesser surgical duration, keeps the frontal ostium patent and drastically reduces recurrence of pathology. Combining postoperative budesonide instillation after modified Draf III helps in achieving promising results.