Outcomes of septoplasty in young adults: the Nasal Obstruction Septoplasty Effectiveness study.

The goal of this study was to compare the outcome of septoplasty in our patients with previous reports. We found some different outcomes of septoplasty at our center compared with the reports in the literature. One of the major differences between this and previous studies is in the mean age of patients undergoing surgery, 22.44 years in our study vs more than 40 years in most studies. In this study, 86 patients with septal deviation were asked using an outcomes instrument (the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation scale) before and 3 and 6 months after septoplasty. Seventy-seven patients (89.5%) reported a subjective improvement in their nasal obstruction, which is more than the experience of most authors. There was a significant improvement in mean Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation score at 3 months after septoplasty, and some symptom improvement continued to 6 months. We conclude that younger patients who have nasal obstruction with septal deviation benefit more from septoplasty. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.