Mucociliary function changes of the nose after inferior turbinectomy

ABSTRACT

The effect of inferior turbinectomies which is a quite common procedure in ENT practice on the mucociliary function of the nose is studied using the saccharine and indigocarmine tests. These tests were performed on 20 control and 80 patients divided into 2 subgroups. The first subgroup did submucous resection of their inferior turbinates. The second subgroup did total inferior turbinectomy. The MTT for saccharine and indigocarmine showed a very highly significant improvement after 1 week and 1 month in the first subgroup. In the second subgroup no change was found. Nasal obstruction improvement was 80% and 97.8% in the first and second groups, respectively, after 1 month postoperatively. After 12 to 18 months later still 50% of the first group had no nasal obstruction while 97.5% of the second group had the same result: