gms | German Medical Science

Introduction: This paper evaluates the impact o risk factors on postoperative outcome of patients operated for inferior turbinates hypertrophy using radiofrequency surgery.

Method: Prospective nonrandomized study on patients operated in ENT Clinic Cluj-Napoca of Cluj CF Clinical Hospital between 2008-2010. Eight parameters were evaluated for their association with recurrence: age, gender, smoking, asthma, recurrent sinusitis, previous inferior turbinates surgery, history of multiple nonsurgical treatments, gastroesophageal reflux. Patients with immunodeficiency, septal deviation, nasal polyposis, nasal tumors, facial trauma, ciliary abnormalities, rhinosinusal surgery were excluded. Statistical analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier survival curves, LOG-rank test and Cox proportional hazard model.

Results: The group included 117 patients, 71 males and 46 females, age ranged from 19 and 69 years (average 44.7 years). 19 patients (16.23% had asthma, 16 (13.67%) gastroesophageal reflux. Smoking was present in 35 patients (29.91%) and history of multiple nonsurgical treatments at 73 patients (70.08%). Inferior turbinates surgery history was found in 28 patients (23.93%). Recurrent sinusitis was found in 24 patients (20.51%). Recurrence was recorded in 7 cases (5.98%). In univariate analysis smoking, history of inferior turbinates surgery and recurrent sinusitis were found to be associated with disease recurrence (p<0.05). In multivariate analysis only smoking and recurrent sinusitis were found to be independent predictive factors of postoperative recurrence (p<0.05).

Conclusions: Identifying the prognostic factors is sometimes difficult to achieve and requires a careful assessment of each surgical case in order to obtain good postoperative results.

Der Erstautor gibt keinen Interessenkonflikt an.