Comparative Study between Submucosal Diathermy and Endoscopic Partial Turbinectomy in Hypertrophied Inferior Turbinate

Abstract

Background:Chronic nasal obstruction is a common subjective complaint seen by otolaryngologists; turbinate hypertrophy is one of its causes. There are various treatment options for enlarged turbinates, the method of treatment depends on the size of the enlarged turbinates. Objective:To evaluate the effectiveness of submucosal diathermy of inferior turbinate versus endoscopic partial turbinectomy in patients with inferior turbinate hypertrophy. Patients and methods:A total of sixty patients of different age groups and both sexes were involved in the study. Patients were divided in two groups; group (I), which included 30 patients, had submucosal diathermy of both inferior turbinates and group (II); which included 30 patients had surgical endoscopic partial turbinectomy of both inferior turbinates. Patients were followed up for 6 months postoperatively and nasal obstruction was analyzed according to (NOSE) scale. Results: there were no significant differences between both groups in nasal score mean at pre-operative, 1 week and 1 month (post-operative), however, group (II) had significantly (p<0.01) lower nasal score mean at 6 months compared to group (I),. In addition, there were a significant post-operative improvement in nasal obstruction in both used techniques at 1 week and 1 month. However, this significant improvement continued to 6 months in group II While, a type of recurrence was happened in group I at 6 months. Conclusion: both of the used surgical techniques were found to be effective in reducing nasal obstruction but endoscopic partial turbinectomy was more effective in reducing nasal obstruction for longer duration.