Assessment of septoplasty effectiveness using acoustic rhinometry and rhinomanometry

Introduction:
Septal deviation is the chief cause of chronic nasal obstruction. In order to treat such cases, nasal septoplasty surgery is usually performed based on patient complaints and a surgeon's examination, both of which are subjective. This study aims at using the objective parameters of acoustic rhinometry and rhinomanometry to evaluate the effectiveness of septoplasty surgery.
 
Materials and Methods:
A prospective study was performed in 30 candidate patients for septoplasty surgery. Acoustic rhinometry and rhinomanometry tests were performed on all patients both before and 3 months after the operation. The symptom recovery rate was recorded according to the patient's statements and anterior rhinoscopic examinations 3 months after surgery. Data were analyzed using a t-test and chi-square tests in a SPSS package.
 
Results:
A total of 26 of 30 patients returned for a post–procedure follow-up examination after 3 months. Patients were aged from 18 to 32 years (average, 25 years). In total 69.2% (18 patients) were satisfied with the results of the procedure. In addition, rhinomanometry resulted in a decrease in general nasal resistance if patients used decongestants (P=0.03). However, the decrease was not significant before the use of decongestants (P=0.12). Furthermore, according to the results from acoustic rhinomanometry, there was an increase in the nasal cross-sectional area on both the narrow and wide sides after the operation (P<0.05), although this increase was not so notable in the narrower side after using decongestants. There was, however, no significant relationship between the results from the objective tests and the patient's symptoms or clinical examinations (P>0.05).
 
Conclusion: 
The findings of this study show that although the objective tests confirm an improvement in general nasal resistance and an increase in the nasal cross-sectional area after surgery, no unambiguous relationship between the patient's symptoms and the clinical examinations is observed. Therefore, such objective tests do not prove to be sufficient diagnostic criteria for the effectiveness of septoplasty.