Is the nasal cycle ablated in patients with high spinal cord trauma?

We have observed at our centre that patients with high spinal cord injury frequently complain of nasal obstruction requiring decongestants. This may be due to damage to the cervical sympathetic nerves supplying the nasal mucosa, which ablates the nasal cycle. In this study we assessed the nasal cycle in 10 patients with high spinal cord trauma (above T1 segment) using acoustic rhinometry. We found that all patients assessed within 1 year of injury had nasal obstruction and no nasal cycle. Patients with injuries between 1 and 4 years who complained of a nasal obstruction showed an irregular cycle. Patients with injuries older than 4 years showed a normal alternating reciprocal nasal cycle and an improvement of nasal symptoms. The exact reason for this recovery is presently not clear from this pilot study. Further research will be undertaken to assess reasons for the recovery and possible treatment regimens for this distressing condition.