ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Turbinate hypertrophy is one of the common causes of chronic nasal obstruction. In principle, therapeutic guidelines recommend medical treatment. Failure to treat turbinate thickening despite drug therapy may indicate the need for surgery. The main aim of this study was to determine the effect of radiofrequency surgery, among various other surgical procedures, on people with both nasal septal deviation and turbinate hypertrophy. METHODS: Among people with nasal deviation who visited the subject hospital between July 2008 to July 2014, 21 people with nasal septal deviation and severe turbinate hypertrophy before their surgery had undergone septoplasty with turbinoplasty using radiofrequency combined with septoplasty. The degree of the turbinate's hypertrophy was appraised in all the patients before and after the surgery using the rhinoscopy, and acoustic rhinometry was objectively carried out. The subjective effect of the turbinoplasty using radiofrequency was explored through the visual analog scale (VAS) score. RESULTS: The degree of contraction of the nasal mucosa after the rhinoscopy changed from Grades 3 and 4 (100%) to Grades 1 and 2 (95.2%) and Grades 3 (4.8%). The minimal cross-sectional area significantly increased from 0.44±0.07 to 0.70±0.07 cm2 (p<0.05). The nasal cavity volume increased from 4.79±0.49 to 6.76±0.55 cm2 (p<0.05). The subjective symptoms evaluated with VAS score a year after the surgery significantly improved (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Turbinoplasty using Coblator with septoplasty is an effective treatment method because it expands nasal cavity, has a low incidence of complications, subjectively improves symptoms, and has short treatment duration.
ABSTRACT
The mandibular condyle is a region that plays a key role in the opening and closing of the mouth, and because fracture causes functional and aesthetic problems such as facial asymmetry, it is very important to perform accurate reduction. Traditionally, there has been disagreement on how to manage fracture of the mandibular condyle. This review explores the misunderstanding of mandibular condyle fracture treatment and modern-day treatment strategies.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Postmastectomy adjuvant therapy is used to prevent locoregional recurrence and improve overall breast cancer specific survival rates. However, it can adversely affect the cosmetic results of reconstruction. Therefore, the authors examined flap stability and patients' satisfaction with immediate breast reconstruction after adjuvant therapy. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 204 patients from January 2006 to November 2011. For complication rates, the authors categorized the patients who underwent the immediate breast reconstruction into 4 groups: adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy group, adjuvant chemotherapy only group, adjuvant radiotherapy only group, and the group that did not undergo adjuvant therapy. For comparison of patients' satisfaction, the study was performed with an additional 16 patients who had undergone delayed breast reconstruction. RESULTS: Regarding complication rates, the group that had undergone adjuvant therapy showed no significant difference compared to the group that did not undergo adjuvant therapy. In evaluating the patients' satisfaction, there was no significant difference. CONCLUSIONS: Even after adjuvant therapy, immediate breast reconstruction showed good results with respect to flap stability and patients' satisfaction. Immediate breast reconstruction and adjuvant therapy is a safe and useful option for breast cancer patients.