The effects of endoscopic sinus surgery on the nasal cycle as assessed by acoustic rhinometry.

Previous studies have demonstrated that acoustic rhinometry (AR) has a considerable utility in measuring nasal patency and in detecting the nasal cycle. This study was performed in 10 patients with chronic rhinosinusitis who were submitted to endoscopic sinus surgery. AR was used to determine minimum nasal cross-sectional area and volume as the indices of the nasal patency in all patients on the day before the surgery and 3 months postoperatively. We did not find any significant alteration when comparing the pattern of fluctuation, the periodicity, and the amplitude of the nasal cycle demonstrated by patients in the pre and postoperative periods, confirming that this surgery does not have any adverse effect on this physiologic cycle.