Power assisted adenoidectomy in palatal abnormalities.

ABSTRACT

The aim of this work was to study the short-term effects of power- assisted complete and superior adenoidectomy on velopharyngeal closure in patients with palatal abnormalities in order to detect which procedure is more able to avoid the post-adenoidectomy velopharyngeal insufficiency. Thirty patients with different palatal abnormalities participated in this study. The patients were divided into two groups Group 1 [16 patients] was treated with power-assisted complete adenoidectomy, while group 2 [14 patients] was treated with endoscopic power-assisted superior adenoidectomy. All patients experienced a complete resolution of their nasal obstruction and/or otitis media. Four patients of group 1 developed permanent velopharyngeal insufficiency as evidenced by fiberoptic examination and nasometric studies. The other 10 patients and the whole of group 2 did not develop velopharyngeal insufficiency