ABSTRACT
Thirty patients with enlarged inferior turbinate bones were allocated to 3 subgroups depending on the choice of surgical treatment. The control group comprised 10 practically healthy volunteers with unaffected nasal and paranasal cavities. The objective of the study was to compare clinical efficiency of three surgical techniques, viz. submucosal vasotomy, submucosal endoscopic conchotomy, and submucosal osteoconchotomy. Mucosal microcirculation in the nasal cavity was studied by laser Doppler flowmetry in the middle part of the inferior turbinate bone. In all the cases, measurements were performed before and after the adrenaline test; patients of the study group underwent additional measurements on day 7 and 3 months postoperatively. The results of the study confirmed the development of microcirculatory disturbances in patients with enlarged inferior turbinate bones. It is concluded that all the three surgical modalities employed in this study for the correction of enlarged inferior turbinate bone preserve functional capacity of intranasal mucosa and promote normalization of its microhemodynamic patterns. Submucosal endoscopic conchotomy appears to be the most efficacious of the three techniques.