Can Nose Scale Be Used as a Predictor of Successful Surgery in Patients Undergoing Septoplasty.

The complaint of nasal obstruction or difficulty in nasal breathing is highly subjective. The benefits of surgery vary depending upon patient perception and satisfaction. Along with objective methods like nasal endoscopy improvement in subjective score of patients symptoms is definitely an important outcome parameter of management. Assessing the disease specific quality of life outcomes of patients undergoing septoplasty by means of a questionnaire using nose scale and correlating it with diagnostic nasal endoscopic findings and clinical examination thirty patients above 17 years of age, with anatomical deviation of the nasal septum as the sole cause of obstruction and symptoms persisting for more than 3 months, underwent septoplasty. Degree of septal deviation was classified as per Mladina classification. Patients Nasal Obstruction & Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) score were documented preoperatively and postoperatively and analysed. In our study it was found that there was significant improvement in nose scores which correlated with the improvement in nasal endoscopic findings. Use of NOSE score will help in letting the patient know his expected outcome following septoplasty and can be used as a predictor of successful surgery/an adjunct to clinical examination and nasal endoscopy in patients undergoing septoplasty. Disease specific health status instruments like Nose scale are needed along with objective outcome measures to compare disease-specific health status and symptom severity in patients before and after treatment. Similarly it could be used to assess differences in outcome when different surgical techniques are used. These subjective scales like nose scale can be used as along with to clinical examination and nasal endoscopy in the management of patients undergoing septoplasty.