Repair of postoperative and recurrent nasal septal perforations using L-strut overlay flap.

BACKGROUND: Despite the many described techniques, surgical repair of iatrogenic nasal septal perforations is still challenging. The authors present a novel technique for endoscopic closure of postoperative and recurrent nasal septal perforations. METHOD: The technique is based on the elevation of a vascularized flap from the L-strut area and the creation of the bed site without dissection of the surrounding septum. Seven patients were operated using "L-strut overlay" flap from June 2018 to October 2020. All patients had their perforations closed 12 months after surgery. CONCLUSION: Early results of our surgical technique have proven its simplicity and high effectiveness.

Resultados postoperatorios de cierre quirúrgico de perforación septal con injertos de cartílago / Surgical outcome of nasal septal perforation repair with cartilage grafts

Introducción: las perforaciones septales y su corrección quirúrgica constituyen un reto para los otorrinolaringólogos. Se encuentran descritas en la literatura diferentes técnicas para el cierre de las perforaciones septales; sin embargo, sus resultados en términos de efectividad son muy variables y con pocos pacientes. Desde hace 8 años se viene realizando la técnica de cierre de perforación septal con injertos de cartílago en el servicio de otorrinolaringología del Hospital San José y se ha observado una respuesta clínica exitosa. Objetivo: describir los resultados postoperatorios de los pacientes manejados con la técnica de cierre quirúrgico de perforación septal con injertos de cartílago, en términos de aparición de complicaciones y frecuencia de perforación septal residual. Diseño: estudio de tipo cohorte descriptiva. Metodología: se describe una cohorte de pacientes manejados con la técnica de cierre quirúrgico de perforación septal con injertos de cartílago de banco o cartílago autólogo. Se incluyeron pacientes a partir de enero de 2014 a junio de 2018. Se extrajeron de la historia clínica los datos demográficos, clínicos, complicaciones y presentación de perforación septal residual. Resultados: la tasa de éxito de cierre de perforación septal fue de 78,3 %; siendo las etiologías más frecuentes antecedente de cirugía e idiopática. La complicación más común fue epistaxis en el 26 % de los pacientes, seguida de dolor en el 21,7 % en el postoperatorio mediato, el cual mejoró en los controles posteriores. Conclusión: los resultados con la técnica de cierre de perforación septal con injerto de banco fueron satisfactorios en esta población.

Introduction: septal perforations and surgical correction are a challenge for ENT specialists. Several techniques for closing septal perforations are described in the literature; however, its results in terms of effectiveness are very variable and with small sample sizes. The technique of closure of septal perforation with cartilage grafts has been performed for 8 years in the ENT department of San José Hospital with a successful clinical response. Aims: to describe the postoperative results of patients managed with the technique of surgical closure of septal perforation with cartilage grafts, in terms of complications and frequency of residual septal perforation. Design: descriptive cohort study. Methods: a cohort of patients managed with the surgical closure technique of septal perforation with grafts of bank cartilage or autologous cartilage are descrived. Patients were included from January 2014 to June 2018. Demographic, clinical data, complications and presentation of residual septal perforation were extracted from the clinical history Results: The success rate of septal perforation closure was 78.3%; being the most frequent etiologies antecedent of surgery and idiopathic. The most common complication was epistaxis in 26% of patients, followed by pain in 21.7% in the postoperative period, which improved in subsequent controls. Conclusion: the results with the technique of closure of septal perforation with bank grafting were satisfactory in this population.

A CFD approach to understand nasoseptal perforations.

INTRODUCTION: Nasoseptal perforations (NSP) are becoming common in the modern world, and can cause a wide variety of symptoms, including a sensation of nasal obstruction, epistaxis, crusting, dryness, headache, nasal pain and a whistling sound. There is an extensive range of surgical treatment techniques, but reported results were rarely statistically significant. The lack of consistent surgical results may be related to the lack of knowledge about the pathophysiology of NSP and how they affect the nasal flow. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has proved to be a very useful tool to study nasal function. METHODS: We have used CFD software (the program MECOMLAND® and the Digbody® tool for virtual surgery) to investigate the behaviour of the parameters R-[Formula: see text] based on CFD results, when four subjects underwent virtual surgery to induce a septal perforation: two subjects with healthy noses and two patients suffering from nasal airway obstruction. For each case a CFD study was performed, before and after creating an anterior (close to nostrils) or a posterior (close to choanae) NSP. RESULTS: In all cases analyzed, a posterior septal perforation did not result in a significant volumetric flow rate [Formula: see text] through the perforation between nasal passages. However, for anterior defects only in those nasal cavities considered diseased or unhealthy, high values of [Formula: see text] were found. CONCLUSION: The induced NSP only rendered significant flow alterations in noses with preexisting nasal airway obstruction alterations, whereas in nasal cavities considered as normal the creation of a NSP did not produce significant differences between both sides. We strongly suggest that this finding can explain the variety of symptoms and the number of asymptomatic patients bearing NSP.

Endoscopic repair of nasal septal perforation.

Surgical closure of nasal septal perforation is one of the most challenging procedures in nasal surgery. During the last decade, many endoscopic repair techniques have been described with a success of post-operative repair between 76.4% and 100%. The advantages of this approach are its minimal invasiveness (with no external scars), optimal exposure of the operative field (with better visibility of structures) and good control of perforation margins. The drawbacks are that it is time-consuming and can be difficult to perform, requiring years of endoscopic experience. In this review, all the relevant literature published in which repair was completely made endoscopically is overviewed, comparing the success rates, diameter of the perforation and materials used for the repair.

Surgical treatment of nasal septal perforations: SIR (Italian Society of Rhinology) experts opinion.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The aim of our study has been to investigate the perception of aspects related to nasal perforation among experts in Rhinology and ENT surgeons. Our aim was reporting the situations in different Countries to improve the knowledge of colleagues interested in this topic. METHODS: A panel of experts prepared a 20-question questionnaire regarding nasal perforations and their surgical repair, that were emailed to all the members of SIR (Società Italiana di Rnologia - Italian Society of Rhinology). RESULTS: Data obtained from their answers showed that Cottle technique (64%) is the most common technique to perform septoplasty worldwide. 37% of the sample reported an occurrence of nasal septal perforation in less than 1% of patients and 75% attributed this occurrence to the skill of the surgeon, to infections, to drug use and to septal deformity. Trauma, pressure and Wegener's granulomatosis were also mentioned. The most common closure technique is the mucosal flap (75%), followed by the cartilage grafts (11%). Much less common were oral flaps, septal buttons and others. The majority agreed not to suggest septal perforation surgery in minimal (less than 3-4mm) perforations (73.5%), or limiting it to symptomatic patients (43.5%). The contraindications to repair surgery were reported to be: Wegener's granulomatosis, drug abuse, non-symptomatic perforation, its dimension and age of the patient. Septal deviation, atrophic rhinitis, smoke epistaxis and systemic diseases were also claimed. Failure in repair surgery has been observed to occur in less than 30% of cases. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Given the great difficulty to make random studies about controversial topics and obtain statistically significant data related to that, expert opinion shall be of great value (expert opinion, level of evidence 5).

Endoscopic Endonasal Repair of Septal Perforation with Interpositional Auricular Cartilage Grafting via a Mucosal Regeneration Technique.

We evaluated the efficacy of interpositional auricular cartilage grafting for perforation with an endoscopic endonasal approach via a mucosal regeneration technique. In total, 12 patients with symptomatic septal perforations were operated on by way of an endoscopic endonasal approach after an adequately sized cartilage graft was harvested. The graft was inserted between the circumferentially incised and elevated flaps of the perforation and secured by vertical and horizontal nonabsorbable aligning approximation stitches and prolonged placement of silicone splints. The average perforation size was 12.3 mm (range, 4-19 mm). Bleeding, incrustation, pain, whistling respiration, and nasal congestion symptoms were relieved entirely in 10 of 12 patients (83.3%) who had successful treatment. This study showed that an endoscopic endonasal approach via a mucosal regeneration technique without direct mucosa-to-mucosa repair can be applied successfully without disrupting the neighboring nasal structures for septal perforations up to 20 mm and as effectively as other, more complex surgical interventions.

Endoscopic Repair of Nasal Septal Perforation with "Slide and Patch" Technique.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to report our new endoscopic technique for the repair of nasal septal perforations, called the "slide and patch" technique because it combines a mucoperiosteal free graft of the inferior turbinate with a mucosal rotational or advancement flap from the nasal septum. METHODS: Twenty-two patients with symptomatic septal nasal perforation of various sizes underwent our method of repair. RESULTS: At the last follow-up, 21 (95.4%) perforations were closed. There was a partial closure in only 1 patient with a large perforation (3.5 cm in diameter). After surgery, 19 (86.3%) patients were asymptomatic, 2 (9%) showed persistence of crusting, and 1 (4.5%) showed the appearance of nasal obstruction 1 month postoperatively. CONCLUSION: The method described herein has shown to be effective in nasal septal perforation repair and in nasal symptoms relief with the advantage of not requiring grafts from outside the nose.

Reparación de perforación septal con técnica de colgajos pediculados asistida con endoscopio / Nasal septal perforation repair using pediculated graft technique assisted by endoscope

La perforación septal corresponde a la comunicación entre ambas fosas nasales por un defecto del tabique nasal. Si bien la mayoría son asintomáticas, pueden presentarse como una rinitis costrosa, obstrucción nasal, epistaxis recidivante o sibilancias nasales. Su origen es predominantemente iatrogénico o idiopático, no obstante pueden presentar diversas etiologías. Es necesario determinar esto para resolver la necesidad de cirugía y definir la técnica quirúrgica más adecuada. En el siguiente trabajo presentamos 2 casos clínicos de perforación septal manejados con la técnica de avance de colgajos de mucosa de Fairbanks modificada, interponiendo además cartílago tragal.

The septal perforation is a communication between both nostrils through a nasal septal defect. Most of these defects are asymptomatic, although some may present as crusty rhinitis, nasal obstruction, recurrent epistaxis or nasal wheeze. Its origin is predominantly iatrogenic or idiopathic; however it may have several etiologies. It's fundamental to determine the cause of the septal perforation, in order to address the need for surgery and define the most appropriate surgical technique. We report 2 cases of septal perforations which were resolved with modified Fairbanks technique interposing tragal cartilage.