Effect of improved nasal airflow after adenoidectomy on nasal erectile tissue.
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.
Brinckmann
Carlos Alberto Carvalho
CA
Medical Sciences Graduate Program, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre RS, Brazil. brinckmann@clinicabrinckmann.com.br
Scapin
Flávia Penso
FP
Bernd
Luiz Antônio Guerra
LA
Lubianca Neto
José Faibes
JF
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*