Reopening of the closed nostril in atrophic rhinitis

Abstract

SummaryClosure of the nostril in atrophic rhinitis is a simple operation. Opening the obturated nose by excising the obturator membrane very often causes stenosis. A new and effective method for opening the nostrils, by meant of flaps, is suggested.

Customised acrylic nasal stents following recanalisation of modified Young's procedure

“…2 However, this entails repeated packing, a long hospital stay, and prolonged mouth-breathing leading to considerable discomfort for the patient. This can be avoided by the use of hollow stents for a period of four to six weeks.…”

“…In addition, there may be a tendency to recurrence of atrophic changes, as the newly regenerated mucosa may be unable to endure the mechanical insult of the tube. 2 Dental wax plates are an effective supportive material following septal surgery, and prevent postoperative synechiae. 5 However, our dental wax plate stents gave disappointing results, with all three patients (six nostrils) showing a tendency to restenose at follow up.…”

“…Long term packing is an alternative to stenting, using gauze impregnated with petroleum jelly or bismuth iodoform paraffin paste 2 . However, this entails repeated packing, a long hospital stay, and prolonged mouth-breathing leading to considerable discomfort for the patient.…”

“…Patients were evaluated pre-operatively and considered disease-free, based on relief of symptoms and assessment of the nasal cavity using a 2.7 mm nasal endoscope. In all cases, recanalisation was performed under local anaesthesia, using the three flap technique described by Gadre et al 2 Following the recanalisation procedure, three different stent types were used.…”

“…Young stated that ‘the aperture that is created by excision of the membrane tends to close, and more than one operation may have to be done before the opening is satisfactory’ 1 . Gadre et al described a three flap technique of recanalisation, followed by the use of silicone tube stents for six weeks 2 . Various other stents have been tried for iatrogenic and congenital nasal vestibular stenosis; however, there are few descriptions of stents which effectively relieve nasal obstruction while maintaining an acceptable cosmetic appearance and minimising discomfort.…”