Treatment of obstructing inferior turbinates with intranasal corticosteroids

The most common cause of nasal obstruction is chronic enlargement of the inferior turbinate bones. The variety of medical and surgical treatments available for this condition bears testimony to their frequent ineffectiveness and the frustration of the physician or surgeon caring for these patients. Removal or destruction of the inferior turbinates has received strong criticism from rhinologists, although at present there is renewed interest in turbinectomy combined with rhinoplasty. A technique employing intranasal injections of long-acting corticosteroids has been used successfully for over twenty years in treating obstructing inferior turbinates secondary to allergic and vasomotor rhinitis. The indications, technique, and complications of this method are reviewed; the technique is presented as an alternative to destruction or resection of the inferior turbinates.