Septal Deviation Treatment Using Bone or Cartilage Grafts Fixed with Cyanoacrylate Tissue Adhesive.

Abstract

This paper presents a method in which bone or cartilage grafts are fixed to the septal cartilage with cyanoacrylate-based tissue adhesive for the treatment of septal deviation. A prospective study was designed to show the effectiveness of the technique. Cyanoacrylate-based tissue adhesive was used to fix the cartilage or bone grafts onto the septal cartilage to straighten deviated septal cartilage in 77 patients. Regarding the patients' preoperative and postoperative nasal respiration, the following were assessed: (1) Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scales, (2) patient satisfaction with postoperative nasal respiration using visual analog scoring, and (3) computerized tomographic images. The patients were followed up for 29months on average. Patients' respiration-related problems resulting from septal deviation were relieved in all but four patients. Clinically and radiologically, the straightened septums preserved their new forms, and it was detected with computerized tomography that the bone grafts had acquired permanency. In addition, the NOSE scores improved significantly compared to their preoperative levels. In cases in which the use of bone or cartilage grafts is chosen to straighten the deviated septal cartilage, fixation of grafts with cyanoacrylate (CA) tissue adhesive is a quick, instantly effective, and reliable method. CA, which enables the subsurface of the graft to have complete contact with the septal cartilage, provides extra benefit by transferring all of the reformative forces of the grafts to the septal cartilage. This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .