Endoscopic repairment of septal perforation with using a unilateral nasal mucosal flap.
OBJECTIVE
Nasal septal perforation is an anatomic defect of the cartilaginous and bone tissues of the nasal septum. Many approaches and techniques to repair nasal septal perforations have been reported on. The purpose of this paper is to report on our surgical technique and the results of the treatment for nasal septal perforations.


METHODS
From May 2001 to March 2008, 14 patients (12 males and 2 females; mean age: 41.3 yr) were enrolled. The mean perforation size was 15 mm, and all the perforations were located at the cartilaginous portion. Our surgical technique is based on an endoscope-assisted endonasal approach, with dissection of unilateral advanced mucosal flaps with using a temporalis fascia graft. The follow-up periods ranged from 3 to 23 months (mean follow-up period: 8 months).


RESULTS
Using our surgical technique on 14 patients, 12 cases (85.7%) of septal perforation were closed without complication. The remaining two patients (14.3%) had incomplete closures (about 2-3 mm) without any significant symptoms related to the remaining perforation.


CONCLUSIONS
Our technique is a viable procedure with a high success rate for achieving closure of nasal septal perforations. It has the advantages of shortening the operative time, no external incision and avoiding any other perforation during the operation. Therefore, we consider it to be a good alternative for repairing nasal septal perforations.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea.
Hye-Ryung
HR
Lee
Dong-Bin
DB
Ahn
Ji-Hyun
JH
Park
Yee-Hyuk
YH
Kim
Chang-Min
CM
Sin
Sung-Jae
SJ
Youn
Jung-Soo
JS
Kim