Measurement of Nasal Obstruction: Rhinomanometry as Basic Method in Functional Rhinology

Measuring nasal obstruction should be mandatory before every nasal surgery to determine the necessary surgical steps and to separate mucosal congestion from skeletal deformity. Rhinomanometry is considered the "golden standard" for measuring nasal airway resistance. An extension of the diagnostic power was achieved by the introduction of the four-phase rhinomanometry (4PR), which provides additional information about the influence of the elasticity of the nasal wall. Also, a high correlation to the subjective sensing of obstruction could be achieved by the introduction of logarithmic parameters. The parameters of 4PR could be classified by evaluating 36,500 measurements. The International Standardization Committee on the Objective Assessment of the Upper Airway (ISCOANA) determined it as the new standard. Adding a visual analog scale (VAS) to every measurement is a documentation of the feeling of obstruction at the moment of measurement. Practical hints for 4PR are given. The determination of obstruction for both nasal sides or the calculation of the total nasal resistance should be followed by a second analysis of the detailed obstruction anatomy. In the future, pressure losses or temperature gradients can be determined by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). A reliable way to simulate the success of single surgical steps with a high didactical meaning is the three-dimensional (3D) print of sliced nose models and to measure the effect of stepwise mechanical corrections.