EVALUATION OF RADIOFREQUENCY SURGERY IN TREATMENT OF NASAL OBSTRUCTION SECONDARY TO INFERIOR TURBINATE HYPERTROPHY

Material and Methods: Twenty-three patients with complaint of nasal obstruction and diagnosis of inferior turbinate hypertrophy were included in this study. All patients underwent radiofrequency surgery to inferior turbinates bilaterally. The efficiency and possible complications were evaluated using visual analog scale just before and after 8 weeks of treatment. Visual analog scale measurements less than 30 mm were accepted as complete relief and results were evaluated by one-way anowa test statistically.

Results: The nasal obstruction was completely treated in 82.5 % of patients after overall 16 week- follow-up period. Two out of 15 patients with chronic hypertrophic rhinitis and 4 out of eight patients with allergic rhinitis underwent radiofrequency for two times. There were no remarkable complications either during the procedure or during follow-up period. Keywords : Radiofrequency, inferior turbinate hypertrophy, visual analog scale