title: Systematic functional assessment of nasal dyspnea: surgical outcomes and predictive ability.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Evaluate the ability of a systematic preoperative evaluation to determine the most appropriate procedures for patients undergoing functional septorhinoplasty and to accurately predict postoperative outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case series with chart review.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tertiary care military hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-nine consecutive patients from a quality control database who underwent functional rhinoplasties for nasal dyspnea were evaluated. All patients underwent a full preoperative assessment using intranasal manipulation to determine the area(s) contributing to their nasal dyspnea. Rates of success for the predictive ability and for the functional outcome were determined for each side of the nose by comparing preoperative visual analog scale (VAS) scores (1-10) to postoperative scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall there was a 91% success rate in predicting the outcome of surgery and a 95% success rate in improving nasal dyspnea at 1 year. There was no statistically significant difference in improvement between different surgical groups (septoplasty ± alar strut grafts ± spreader grafts) or between primary surgeries and revisions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Using a systematic approach to evaluate patients for nasal dyspnea, it is possible to predict and improve outcomes by choosing the most appropriate surgery for each individual.
authors.affiliation: Eastern Virginia Medical School, Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Norfolk, Virginia, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Larson
authors.forename: Benjamin W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Cilento
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015508:Nasal Obstruction / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D009300:Nasal Septum / Q000601:surgery*; D059747:Nasal Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D011184:Postoperative Period; D012086:Reoperation; D012225:Rhinoplasty / Q000379:methods; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D016896:Treatment Outcome