The Effect of Septoplasty and Turbinoplasty on Pulmonary Function Test– A Hospital-Based Interventional Study

TL;DR

This study shows that septal surgeries can improve lung function and reduce nasal obstruction in patients with deviated nasal septums.

Contribution

The novel contribution is confirming that septal surgeries positively impact lower respiratory tract function.

Findings

PFT indices improved significantly 2 months after surgery (p<0.05).

NOSE scores improved significantly 2 months post-operatively (p<0.001).

Overweight and obese patients showed a lower degree of PFT improvement.

Abstract

Deviated nasal septum (DNS) is common in the population and at times can warrant a need for septal surgeries. It has been hypothesised that DNS increases the post-nasal discharge, leading to increased sino-bronchial reflexes. This leads to lower respiratory tract inflammation and infections. The current study has been done to confirm the above hypothesis and to evaluate the improvement after septal surgeries among the patients.

72 patients, above 18 years of age, who had undergone a septal correction surgery were included in our study. Pulmonary function tests (PFT) like FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC, FEF25%-75%, and PEF were used to evaluate the patients pre-operatively, 1 month post-operatively, and 2 months post-operatively. Additionally, the Nasal Obstruction Evaluation Scale (NOSE) was used to assess the improvement in PFT, comparing the pre-operative and 2 months post-operative PFT. The study was conducted from November 2022 to May 2023. All data were recorded and analysed using SPSS version 21.0.

All PFT indices showed improvement on both the 1st month (p>0.05) and 2nd month (p<0.05) post-operatively. All patients had an improvement in the NOSE score 2 months post-operatively (p<0.001). Among all the patients, only the overweight and obese patients had a lower degree of improvement in PFT.

Our study thus concludes that septal surgeries have a positive impact on the Lower Respiratory Tract, thus confirming our hypothesis.

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