Significance of acoustic rhinometry and rhinomanometry in the evaluation of surgical treatment of nasal septal deviation

Objective To discuss the significance of acoustic rhinometry(AR) and rhinomanometry(RM) in the evaluation of surgical treatment of nasal septal deviation.Methods Fifty-one patients of nasal septal deviation were recruited,and seventy-two nasal cavities were tested(twenty-one patients with narrowing of double sides).Visual analogue scale(VAS) was used to estimate the degree of nasal obstruction.AR and RM were used to obtain the data of nasal airway resistance(NAR),nasal cavity 0-5cm volume(NCV0-5) and nasal minimal cross-sectional area(NMCA).The data were used to assess the airflow function of nasal cavity.Each patient was tested at the time both before surgery and 12 weeks after surgery.The pre-and post operative data were used to calculate paired t-test by SPSS 16.0,and to disclose the correlation among ΔNCV,ΔNMCA,ΔNAR and ΔVAS.Results The preoperative data showed that NCV0-5 was 4.07±0.91cm3,NMCA 0.33±0.08cm2,NAR 1.14±0.34kPa·s·L-1,and VAS 7.36±1.23;and the postoperative data showed that NCV0-5 was 7.29±0.68cm3,NMCA 0.56±0.08cm2,NAR 0.35±0.12kPa·s·L-1,and VAS 1.14±0.91.Significant differences existed in NCV0-5,NMCA,NAR and VAS(P0.01) between pre-and post operation data.The data of ΔNAR,ΔNCV and ΔNMCA showed significant correlation(P0.01).The correlation coefficient between ΔNAR and ΔNCV was 0.752;that between ΔNAR and ΔNMCA was 0.718;and that between ΔNCV and ΔNMCA was 0.529(P0.01).However,all of them had no correlation to ΔVAS.Conclusion Both AR and RM are appropriate methods to be used in the evaluation of the result of surgical treatment of nasal septal deviation.But the test data have no significant correlation with subjective sensation.