Whether Use of Intranasal Splints after Combined Septoplasty and Partial Inferior Turbinectomy Prevents Adhesion Formation? - a randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Aim: To find out the efficacy of intranasal splints in preventing nasal adhesions after combined septoplasty and partial inferior turbinectomy procedure. Methods: This was a randomized clinical trial carried out on 80 patients at Department of ENT, Nawaz Sharif social security teaching Hospital Lahore over ten month period between December 2017 and September 2018. The patients were randomly placed in one of the two groups, those with and those without splints. Splints were removed and nasal toilet performed on 7th post-operative day. The presence or absence of nasal adhesions was noted at one week and at six weeks post-operatively. The data was analyzed using SPSS software version 21. Results: A total of 71 patients completed the study because 9 patients did not complete the follow up. The study results revealed that splints were effective in preventing nasal adhesion formation in the short term (p =0.000 DF = 1) as well as in the long term (p =0.002 DF = 1) without causing more pain as compared to those with no splints. Conclusion: Splints are effective in preventing formation of adhesions after septal surgery without causing much discomfort and must be used routinely after combined septoplasty and turbinectomy procedure.