Intranasal adhesion formation following surgery for chronic nasal obstruction

Several publications have addressed the problem of atrophic rhinitis and ozaena following turbinate resection for chronic nasal obstruction, but little attention has been given to the problem of intranasal adhesion formation following this procedure. To determine the incidence of postoperative intranasal adhesion formation, a retrospective study of 479 operations on the inferior turbinate and nasal septum, either alone or in combination, was carried out. Adhesion formation complicated 36.2% of turbinate resections, 30.6% of turbinate resections in combination with septal surgery and only 6.8% of all the other procedures. There was also a significantly higher incidence of postoperative haemorrhage following turbinate resection (7.4%) than that following other procedures (1.9%). There was no noted occurrence of atrophic rhinitis, rhinitis sicca or ozaena.