Turbinate Reduction During Septoplasty; To Do it or Not? Clinical and Radiological Study

Objectives/Hypothesis: The objective was to determine whether during septoplasty, turbinate reduction procedure should be done in every case of compensatory turbinate hypertrophy (CTH), or not. Study Design: It is a prospective randomised study. Methods: 86 patients with septal deviation and compensatory turbinate hypertrophy were divided randomly into 2 equal groups; group A for whom septoplasty was done alone and group B for whom coblation-assisted turbinate reduction for CTH was done in addition. Both groups were compared as regard patient symptoms and CT measurements of the turbinate 9 months after surgery. Results: 34.9% of group A complained of nasal obstruction in the side of CTH, compared to only 6.9% in group B. While turbinate reduction as measured by CT was significant in group A (p 0.05); it was highly significant in group B (p 0.0001). It was also found that there was a highly significant statistical difference between the postoperative results in the both groups in favour of group B (p 0.0001). Conclusion: During septoplasty, turbinate reduction should be done in every case of CTH, as it improves patient symptoms and does not add to the complications.