title: Inferior turbinate hypertrophy: review and graduated approach to surgical management.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Surgical techniques for managing inferior turbinate hypertrophy (ITH) vary widely and have evolved substantially in the past four decades as new technologies have emerged.
  
  
  METHODS
  Literature review.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Inferior turbinate (IT) procedures can be categorized as: simple turbinate outfracture; turbinoplasty techniques such as extramucosal destruction, and submucosal tissue removal; and extramural turbinate resection (partial or complete). Each of these approaches has advantages and drawbacks. Considerations for technique selection include clinical setting (in-office versus operating room), cost of the devices used, efficacy of the procedure to relieve nasal obstruction, and minimizing postoperative complications such as nuisance bleeding, adhesion formation, and crusting.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are a variety of contemporary surgical techniques used for IT reduction. This article highlights the available literature and gaps in current knowledge. A graduated approach to the management of ITH will be presented.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, California, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brunworth
authors.forename: Janalee
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.forename: Raj
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sindwani
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014420:Turbinates / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*