The submucosal approach influences long-term outcomes of refractory obstructive rhinitis: A prospective study and a STROBE analysis

Objective: The surgical approach to refractory hypertrophy of the inferior turbinates is the main therapeutic choice in the management of its symptoms. Although submucosal approaches have demonstrated efficacy, long-term results are debated in the literature and show variable stability. Therefore, we compared the long-term outcomes of three submucosal turbinoplasty methods with regard to the efficacy and stability managing the respiratory disorders. Design: Multicenter prospective controlled study. A computer-generated table was used to allocate participants to the treatment. Setting: Two teaching and university medical centers. Methods: We used the EQUATOR network for guidelines describing design, conduct, and reporting of studies and searched the references of these guidelines to identify further relevant publications reporting adequate study protocols. Patients with persistent bilateral nasal obstruction due to lower turbinate hypertrophy were prospectively recruited from our ENT units. Participants were randomly assigned to each treatment and then underwent symptom assessment by visual analog scales, endoscopic assessment at baseline and 12, 24 and 36 months after treatment. Results: Of the 189 patients with bilateral persistent nasal obstruction initially assessed, 105 met the study requirements; 35 were located in the MAT group, 35 in the CAT group and 35 in the RAT group. Nasal discomfort was significantly reduced after 12 months with all the methods. The MAT group presented better outcomes for all VAS scores at the 1-year follow-up, greater stability at the 3-year follow-up for VAS results (p < 0.001 in all cases) and lower disease recurrence (5/35; 14.28 %). At the 3-year follow-up intergroup analysis, a statistically significant difference was confirmed except for RAA scores (H = 2.88; p = 0.236). Rhinorrhea (r = -0.400; p < 0.001) was demonstrated as a predictive factor of 3-year recurrence, while sneezing (r = -0.25; p = 0.011), and operative time needed (r = -0.23; p = 0.016) did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: Long-term symptomatic stability varies depending on the turbinoplasty method used. MAT demonstrated greater efficacy in controlling nasal symptoms, presenting better stability in reducing turbinate size and nasal symptoms. In contrast, radiofrequency techniques presented a higher rate of disease recurrence both symptomatically and endoscopically.