Assessment of safety and efficacy of extraturbinal microdebrider-assisted turbinoplasty versus partial inferior turbinectomy

Abstract

Abstract Objective The aim was to compare the extraturbinal microdebrider-assisted turbinoplasty (MAT) with the partial inferior turbinectomy (PIT) based on subjective and objective parameters. Patients and Methods A total of 18 patients with nasal obstruction owing to bilateral hypertrophied inferior turbinates were included in this study. All patients underwent extraturbinal MAT on one side of the nose and PIT on the other side in alternate manner. The patients were blinded to the technique used. This is a prospective blinded randomized trial was conducted. The study was conducted at a tertiary referral hospital. Main outcome measures Operative time, blood loss, subjective improvement of the nasal obstruction, degree of intranasal crustations, and degree of synechiae formation were the main outcomes recorded. Results The operative time and intraoperative blood loss were less in the extraturbinal MAT compared with PIT. At 2 weeks postoperatively, the sides with MAT had significantly better relief of nasal obstruction (P=0.007), less degree of nasal pain (P=0.002), less crustations (P=0.010), and better tissue healing (P =0.010) than sides with PIT. At 1 and 3 months postoperatively, the sides with MAT had statistically significant less crustations (P=0.040 and 0.032, respectively) and better tissue healing (P=0.010 and 0.010, respectively) compared with the sides with PIT; however, there were no statistically significant differences regarding relief of nasal obstruction and degree of nasal pain. Conclusions Extraturbinal microdebrider-assisted inferior turbinoplasty is more effective and safe compared with PIT, especially in short-term follow-up periods.