Incidence of re-deviated nasal septum after septoplasty in adolescent and adult patients

Abstract

Background: Re-deviation of the nasal septum may occur after septoplasty. Because the cartilaginous septum grows until the age of 16–17 years, septoplasty is usually recommended thereafter. However, severely deviated septum may necessitate septoplasty in younger adolescents.

Objectives: To compare the incidence of re-deviated nasal septum in patients who underwent septoplasty at ≤18 versus ≥19 years of age.

Materials and methods: The medical records and endoscopic photographs of patients who underwent septoplasty between 2005 and 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Re-deviation of the nasal septum was defined as >50% narrowing of one side of the nasal cavity compared to immediately after septoplasty.

Results: The inclusion criteria were met by 52 adolescent patients and 549 adult patients. Re-deviation of the septum occurred in 11 (21.2%) and 39 (7.1%) patients, respectively; the difference was significant. Most patients had caudal and upper cartilaginous deviations. Four adolescent and 14 adult patients underwent revisional septoplasty.

Conclusions and significance: Adolescent patients who underwent septoplasty had a significantly higher incidence of re-deviation of the nasal septum than adult patients. Therefore, when septoplasty is deemed necessary in adolescent patients, they and their parents should be informed about the possibility of re-deviation and the need for revisional septoplasty.

Chinese abstract

背景：鼻中隔矫形术后可能发生鼻中隔再偏离。由于软骨间隔增长到16-17岁, 因此通常建议在此年龄后进行鼻中隔矫形术。然而, 严重偏差的鼻中隔可能需要在较小年龄时进行鼻中隔矫形术。

目的：比较≤18岁和≥19岁患者接受鼻中隔矫形术后再次发生鼻中隔偏曲的发生率。

材料和方法：回顾性分析2005年至2015年接受鼻中隔矫形术的患者的病历和内镜照片。在鼻中隔矫形术后立即比较, 鼻腔一侧狭窄了多于50％被定义为鼻中隔的再偏离。

结果：52名青少年患者和549名成人患者符合纳入标准, 分别有 11例（21.2％）和39例（7.1％）患者发生隔膜再次偏离, 差异有显著性。大多数患者有尾部和上部软骨偏离。四名青少年和14名成人患者接受了修正性鼻中隔矫形术。

结论和意义：接受鼻中隔矫形术的青少年患者的鼻中隔偏曲率显著高于成人患者。因此, 如果认为青少年患者需要进行鼻中隔矫形术, 则应告知他们及其父母重新偏离的可能性以及是否需要进行修正矫形术。

Keywords:

• Adolescence
• adult
• nasal septum
• deviation
• septoplasty
• re-deviation
• complications

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Soonchunhyang University Research Fund.