OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT OF NASAL PATENCY ON PATIENTS FOR SEPTOPLASTY AND RHINOSEPTOPLASTY

Abstract

Purpose: Nasal patency can be assessed using the objective and subjective methods on patients before and after functional and aesthetic surgery of the nose. The aim of the study is to evaluate the improvement of nasal obstruction after septoplasty or rhinoseptoplasty and the correlation between objective AR and ARM and subjective VAS sensation of nasal patency. Material and Methods: Sixty-nine patients were examined in this prospective study. All patients were evaluated by acoustic rhinometry (AR), anterior rhinomanometry (ARM) and visual analogue scale (VAS) before and 12 months after surgery as well as before and after decongestion of the nasal mucosa. Results: The mean subjective breathing scores improved significantly by 2.62 points (77.4% improvement). In patients with severe/very severe obstruction, all measured values improved significantly by an average of 70% and 89% for MCA and 79% for NAR respectively (0,0001). Patients with normal preoperative MCA and NAR values did not experience any significant changes. Good correlation existed between the acoustic-rhinometric (MCA1, MCA2) and anterior rhinomanometry (NAR) measurements and the subjective nasal patency (VAS) on nondecongested and decongested nasal mucosa preoperatively and postoperatively in deviated subgroup (severe/very severe) (r=0,892; p<0,0001) and subgroup (light/moderate) (r=0,935; p<0,0001). There was no good correlation between the subjective sensation of nasal patency and objective measures before surgery and before decongestion of nasal mucosa in deviated group (light/moderate). Conclusion: Acoustic rhinometry and anterior rhinomanometry as objective tools and visual analogue scale as a subjective tool are good for assessment of nasal patency on the patient for functional and aesthetic surgery of the nose.

Keywords

• nasal septum
• acoustic rhinometry
• anterior rhinomanometry
• visual analogue scale