Ng Teik-Ying, Chen Yung-Fu, Tsai Ming-Hsui, Huang Kuang-Hua, Tai Chih-Jaan
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Auris Nasus Larynx. 2013 Feb;40(1):81-4. doi: 10.1016/j.anl.2012.03.001. Epub 2012 Jun 17.
Nasal obstruction is one of the most common sensation complaints of nasal disease in clinical practice. It is a subjective sensation of nasal airflow. Objective assessment of nasal patency and nasal physiology includes the use of rhinomanometry and acoustic rhinometry. The perception of nasal obstruction changes as the alternating of nasal airway resistance and nasal airflow. However, there were limited studies reported whether the perceptions of the left and right nostrils are similar. We examined the relationship between subjective and objective parameters of the nasal airway in the left and right nostrils.
A prospective study of 101 patients with a deviated nasal septum and chronic hypertrophic rhinitis was conducted for subjective and objective nasal airway evaluation. Patients were then divided into three groups based on the visual analog scale. Associations between measures were evaluated with analysis of variance, f tests and simple regression.
Among three patient groups with different subjective sensations of nasal obstruction, there were significant differences among three patient groups according to the objective measurements of airflow resistance on the right side (p=0.0002 for inspiration right mean resistance; p=0.0049 for expiration right mean resistance), and for the minimal cross-sectional area (p=0.030) and nasal cavity volume (p=0.028 for 0-3.3cm left nostril; p=0.047 for 2-4cm left nostril) on the left side. This indicates that nasal flow resistance is an important determinant for right side nasal obstruction. Nasal minimal cross-sectional area and nasal cavity volume are an important determinant for left side nasal obstruction.
Our study indicates the important role of rhinomanometry in objective measurement of right side nasal obstruction and acoustic rhinometry in objective measurement of left side nasal obstruction. Thus, human perception of right and left nostrils may be different and requires further study.
鼻塞是临床实践中鼻病最常见的感觉主诉之一。它是对鼻气流的一种主观感觉。鼻通畅度和鼻生理功能的客观评估包括使用鼻阻力计和鼻声反射仪。随着鼻气道阻力和鼻气流的交替变化，对鼻塞的感知也会改变。然而，关于左右鼻孔的感知是否相似的研究报道有限。我们研究了左右鼻孔鼻气道主观和客观参数之间的关系。
对101例鼻中隔偏曲和慢性肥厚性鼻炎患者进行前瞻性研究，以评估鼻气道的主观和客观情况。然后根据视觉模拟量表将患者分为三组。通过方差分析、F检验和简单回归评估各项测量指标之间的相关性。
在三组具有不同鼻塞主观感觉的患者中，根据右侧气流阻力的客观测量结果（吸气时右侧平均阻力p = 0.0002；呼气时右侧平均阻力p = 0.0049）以及左侧的最小横截面积（p = 0.030）和鼻腔容积（左侧0 - 3.3cm处p = 0.028；左侧2 - 4cm处p = 0.047），三组患者之间存在显著差异。这表明鼻气流阻力是右侧鼻塞的重要决定因素。鼻最小横截面积和鼻腔容积是左侧鼻塞的重要决定因素。
我们的研究表明鼻阻力计在右侧鼻塞客观测量中的重要作用以及鼻声反射仪在左侧鼻塞客观测量中的重要作用。因此，人类对左右鼻孔的感知可能不同，需要进一步研究。
