Radiofrequency volumetric tissue reduction for treatment of turbinate hypertrophy in children.

BACKGROUND

Inferior turbinate hypertrophy is one of the most common causes of nasal airway obstruction in children. Medical treatment often produces very little improvement. Radiofrequency therapy has recently been shown to be safe and effective in volumetric tissue reduction of the turbinates in adults, but no report has been published about its use in children. We prospectively evaluated the safety and effectiveness of radiofrequency volumetric tissue reduction (RVTR) for the treatment of nasal obstruction caused by inferior turbinate hypertrophy in children.

METHODS

We followed up 93 children less than 9 years of age who underwent RVTR over 12 months. This surgery was performed with other procedures, such as tonsillectomy with or without grommet insertion (57 patients), tympanoplasty (10 patients), or grommet insertion alone (26 patients). Clinical examination, a medical questionnaire, and scores recorded pre- and postoperatively using Gertner-Podoshin plates were used to assess treatment outcomes 1 month, 6 months and 1 year after surgery.

RESULTS

No adverse effects were encountered. One primary bleed due to tonsillectomy was the only complication in this group. Eighty-seven children (94%) had significantly improved nasal breathing postoperatively.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study demonstrate that RVTR is a safe, effective method for the treatment of turbinate hypertrophy in children. In addition, our data demonstrates good patient acceptance over a period of 1 year.