Midterm outcomes of outfracture of the inferior turbinate

OBJECTIVE: A variety of medical and surgical treatment alternatives exists for the management of inferior turbinate hypertrophy, indicating a lack of consensus on the optimal technique. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the inferior turbinate objectively by means of radiologic methodology during the early and late periods in patients treated with inferior turbinate outfracture. STUDY DESIGN: Case series with planned data collection. SETTING: Tertiary referral center. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Eighty inferior turbinates of 40 patients (28 males, 12 females) who underwent surgery because of septum deviation and inferior turbinate hypertrophy were included in this prospective clinical study. All patients were evaluated by paranasal sinus computed tomography preoperatively and at one and six months postsurgery. The angle and the distance between the inferior turbinate and the lateral wall of the nasal fossa and the area lateral to the inferior turbinate bone were measured on the coronal plane anterior posteriorly at five different anatomic levels. RESULTS: Statistically significant reductions were noted in the angle and distances in all sections one and six months postoperatively when compared with the preoperative measurements (P < 0.005). CONCLUSION: Compared with the preoperative status, those patients who underwent turbinate outfracture procedures displayed a reduction in the angle and the distance between the inferior turbinate bone and the lateral wall of the nasal fossa and the area lateral to the inferior turbinate bone one month following surgery. Ongoing outcomes of this treatment method have been objectively shown. (C) 2010 American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Foundation. All rights reserved.