The Long Term Efficacy of Microdebrider Assisted versus Coblation Assisted Inferior Turbinoplasty

Lee, Jang Su; Min, Han Ki; Kim, Nam Kook; Oh, Hyun Myung; Son, Won Sang; Park, Byung Chul

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
The study aimed to evaluate the long term efficacy of micro-debrider assisted inferior turbinoplasty (MAIT) compared to coblation assisted inferior turbinoplasty (CAIT) for hypertrophic inferior turbinates.
SUBJECTS AND METHOD
From January 2008 to December 2008 inclusively, 96 patients with persistent hypertrophic inferior turbinates mucosa refractory to medical therapy were enrolled into this study. All patients were suffering from nasal obstruction and related symptoms. Overall, 56 patients were treated with microdebrider assisted inferior turbinoplasty (MAIT group) and 40 patients were treated with coblation assisted inferior turbinoplasty (CAIT group). Postoperative changes in degree of nasal obstruction, sneezing, rhinorrhea, minimal cross sectional area (MCA), and nasal volume from the nostril to 7 cm posteriorly (V7), operation time, duration of crust formation, intraoperative bleeding and delayed bleeding were compared between the two surgical methods prospectively in the 1st and 6 months, and in the 1st and 2nd years after the procedure. Also patient's satisfaction with procedure was evaluated.
RESULTS
The nasal obstruction and related nasal symptoms improved significantly in MAIT group and persisted within the periods of 2 years after surgery, while in CAIT group the significant improvements took place in the 1st and 6th months after surgery but no significant improvements from 1 to 2 years after were noted. Nasal patency (MCA and V7) also showed more improvement and persistence in MAIT group than CAIT group. There were no significant differences in operation time and intraoperative bleeding and delayed bleeding but the duration of crust formation was significantly shorter in MAIT group. And patient satisfaction in the MAIT group was higher than that in the CAIT group.
CONCLUSION
From the analysis of this study, it can be said that MAIT is more effective and satisfactory for the long term relief of nasal obstruction, related nasal symptoms and reduction of hypertrophic inferior turbinate mucosa than CAIT.