title: The value of intranasal splints after partial inferior turbinectomy.
abstract: To assess the value of using the intranasal septal splint after partial inferior turbinectomy (PIT) surgery. Prospective, randomized comparative study. The study was conducted over a period of 2 years from January 2012 to January 2014 at Minia University hospital, Minia, Egypt. A total of 100 patients underwent bilateral PIT. They were randomly divided into 2 groups. Group A included 50 patients had PIT with intranasal splints and group B included 50 patients had PIT without splints. A comparison was made between the 2 groups regarding the postoperative pain, degree of nasal obstruction and the degree of tissue healing and adhesions formation at 2 time points (2 and 4 weeks postoperatively). At 2 weeks postoperatively: visual analogue score (VAS) for the pain was 5 in group A versus 2.1 in group B (P = 0.01), VAS for nasal obstruction was 6 in group A versus 5 in group B (P = 0.328), 70 % of patients had good healing in group A versus 24 % in group B (P = 0.02). At 4 weeks postoperatively: VAS for the pain was 1.5 in group A versus 1.8 in group B (P = 0.423), VAS for nasal obstruction was 7 in group A versus 6 in group B (P = 0.353), 80 % of patients had good healing in group A versus 54 % in group B (P = 0.03). The use intranasal septal splints after PIT without septal surgery can cause increased postoperative pain in the short term follow-up period with significant evidence of decreasing rates of intranasal adhesions.
authors.affiliation: Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Department, Minia University Hospital, 122 Kornish El-Neel Street, Minia City, Minia 61111 Egypt.
authors.forename: Osama G Abdel-Naby
authors.initials: OG
authors.lastname: Awad
authors.affiliation: Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Department, Minia University Hospital, 122 Kornish El-Neel Street, Minia City, Minia 61111 Egypt.
authors.forename: Khalf A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Hamid
keywords: Inferior turbinate hypertrophy; Intranasal splints; Nasal obstruction; Partial inferior turbinectomy