title: Effect of improved nasal airflow after adenoidectomy on nasal erectile tissue.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the effect of improved nasopharyngeal airflow after adenoidectomy on nasal turbinate erectile tissue in pediatric patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical, prospective, before-and-after study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pediatric Otolaryngology Clinic at Hospital da Criança Santo Antônio de Porto Alegre (Complexo Hospitalar Santa Casa de Porto Alegre).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-one 5- to 11-year-old children diagnosed as having severe nasal obstruction, with an indication for adenoidectomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adenoidectomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Acoustic rhinometry data before and 90 days after surgery. To specifically monitor erectile tissue behavior, only the volume of the nasal turbinate region was considered (depth, 2.20-5.40 cm).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The volume of the turbinate region varied from 6.03 cm(3) in the preoperative evaluation to 6.99 cm(3) in the postoperative evaluation, representing an increase of 16% (P < .04). Multiple linear and logistic regressions did not reveal any factors other than adenoidectomy that could explain this change.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Because the only possible explanation for the observed erectile tissue changes was improvement in nasal airflow, we can assume that adenoidectomy favorably affects the behavior of nasal erectile structures and is associated with a decrease in turbinate size. Combined turbinate reduction and adenoidectomy should not be the rule because children may benefit from adenoidectomy alone.
authors: Medical Sciences Graduate Program, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre RS, Brazil. brinckmann@clinicabrinckmann.com.br
authors: Carlos Alberto Carvalho
authors: CA
authors: Brinckmann
authors: Flávia Penso
authors: FP
authors: Scapin
authors: Luiz Antônio Guerra
authors: LA
authors: Bernd
authors: José Faibes
authors: JF
authors: Lubianca Neto
mesh_terms: D000233:Adenoidectomy; D000234:Adenoids / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy; D008297:Male; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D015508:Nasal Obstruction / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000473:pathology*; D012123:Pulmonary Ventilation / Q000502:physiology*; D023842:Rhinometry, Acoustic; D014420:Turbinates / Q000473:pathology*