Efficacy of endoscopic thoracic sympathicotomy along with severing the Kuntz nerve in the treatment of chronic non-infectious rhinitis.

BACKGROUND

The ethiopathogenic diagnosis of rhinitis is laborious and the clinical treatment is unsatisfactory in many cases. After endoscopic thoracic sympathicotomy (ETS), some patients related improvement of the symptoms of chronic non-infectious rhinitis (CNIR).

AIM

To study the influence of ETS associated with the severing of the Kuntz nerve in the follow-up of patients suffering from CNIR.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

From October, 1993 to February, 2001, 117 patients (post-op. follow-up from 2 to 88 months; 46 males and 71 females; median age 24.9 years) were submitted to bilateral ETS and severing of the Kuntz nerve for treatment of hyperhidrosis and chronic non-festering rhinitis. The sympathetic trunk was severed at different levels according to hyperhidrosis location and rhinitis.

RESULT

Rhinitis was cured in 52 patients (44.4%), was improved in 43 patients (36.8%), and in 22 patients (18.8%) there was no change. In 3 patients specifically operated on for treatment of CNIR, symptoms disappeared.

CONCLUSION

The results of the present investigation confirmed the benefits of ETS associated with severing of the Kuntz nerve in the treatment of CNIR. We recommend this procedure for the treatment of rhinitis associated with hyperhidrosis and also for the treatment of specific, isolated cases of CNIR.