Radiofrequency for inferior turbinate hypertrophy: could its long-term effect be predicted with a preoperative topical vasoconstrictor drop test?

BACKGROUND

Our purpose was to evaluate whether postoperative improvement by radiofrequency (RF) volumetric tissue reduction (RFVTR) correlated with a preoperative topical vasoconstrictor drop test (TVDT) in subjects with chronic nasal obstruction secondary to inferior turbinate hypertrophy (ITH).

METHODS

This study was a prospective and unblinded clinical trial. We included 22 subjects suffering from chronic nasal obstruction secondary to ITH. TVDT was performed on all subjects before the operation, and RF energy was delivered to three different sites of each turbinate. Nasal obstruction was evaluated by visual analog score (VAS) preoperatively, after TVDT, and 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 24t weeks after surgery. Success rates of RFVTR and gain ratios of RFVTR and TVDT were calculated.

RESULTS

Significant improvements were observed in success ratios by RFVTR between the 2nd and 12th weeks. Postoperative VAS values reached to VAS value achieved by TVDT at the 8th week. Correlation analysis revealed that postoperative VAS values found at the 2nd to 24th weeks correlated positively with VAS values achieved by TVDT (r = 0.47 and p < 0.03 at the 2nd week; r = 0.65 and p = 0.001 at the 24th week) but not with preoperative VAS values. Similar positive correlations also were found between gain ratios of TVDT and RFVTR from the 4th to 24th weeks.

CONCLUSION

This study showed that success by RFVTR in ITH could be predicted by preoperative TVDT. Improvement by RFVTR depends on how much the patient's turbinates respond to TVDT, but not how much he/she complains of nasal obstruction.