title: Treatment of inferior turbinate hypertrophy: a randomized clinical trial.
abstract: In the past 130 years, many surgical procedures for turbinate reduction have been developed. We analyzed the long-term efficacy of 6 of these surgical techniques (turbinectomy, laser cautery, electrocautery, cryotherapy, submucosal resection, and submucosal resection with lateral displacement) over a 6-year follow-up period. We randomly divided 382 patients into 6 therapeutic groups and surgically treated them at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology of the University of Siena. After 6 years, only submucosal resection resulted in optimal long-term normalization of nasal patency and in restoration of mucociliary clearance and local secretory IgA production to a physiological level with few postoperative complications (p < .001). The addition of lateral displacement of the inferior turbinate improved the long-term results. We recommend, in spite of the greater surgical skill required, submucosal resection combined with lateral displacement as the first-choice technique for the treatment of nasal obstruction due to hypertrophy of the inferior turbinates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Siena, Medical School, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Desiderio
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Passàli
authors.forename: Francesco Maria
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Passàli
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Damiani
authors.forename: Giulio Cesare
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Passàli
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bellussi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery; D007071:Immunoglobulin A, Secretory / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism / Q000601:surgery*; D015508:Nasal Obstruction / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D013517:Otorhinolaryngologic Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014420:Turbinates / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*
chemical_list: D007071:Immunoglobulin A, Secretory