Endoscopic assisted adenoidectomy versus conventional curettage adenoidectomy- a comparative study

Objective: To compare the results of endoscopic assisted adenoidectomy with that of conventional curettage adenoidectomy design: A prospective randomized study of 36 patients with clinical features of adenoid hypertrophy divided into 2 groups of 18 each-group A who underwent adenoidectomy by curette and group B who underwent endoscopic assisted adenoidectomy.Parameters assessed included operative time, blood loss, post-operative complications and residual adenoid tissue visualized by nasopharyngeal endoscopy 3 months post-operatively. Results: Adenoidectomy by curette group showed more residual nasopharyngeal adenoid tissue(55.5%) than by endoscopy assistance(5.5%). Also, 17 patients (94.4%) in endoscopic assisted adenoidectomy group showed symptomatic relief on followup, compared to 12 (66.6%) in curettage group, which was statistically significant (P<0.05).There were no major complications in both the groups. Operative time and blood loss were more in the endoscopic assisted adenoidectomy group, even though the differences were minor. Conclusion: Endoscopic assisted adenoidectomy facilitates an accurate and complete removal of adenoid tissue thereby preventing recurrence of symptoms.