Quality of Life and Symptoms Before and After Nasal Septoplasty With or Without Turbinoplasty Compared With Control Individuals in Saudi Arabia

Nasal septal deviation is a common health issue that can significantly impact the quality of life. Although nasal septoplasty is commonly performed in Otolaryngology practice, its effectiveness has been questioned. This was the first study to assess disease-specific quality of life in patients undergoing nasal septoplasty with or without turbinoplasty in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This was a prospective observational study of patients undergoing nasal septoplasty with or without turbinoplasty for nasal obstruction due to septal deviation with or without inferior turbinate hypertrophy. Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scores were collected preoperatively and 3 months postoperatively and were compared with controls. RESULTS: This study involved 200 subjects, including 40 patients in the case group and 160 individuals in the control group. The mean preoperative and 3-month postoperative NOSE scores of the case group were (58.4±23.7 and 15.0±18.6, P<0.001), respectively. However, the postoperatively NOSE score did not reach NOSE score in control group (13.28±8.13, P=0.377). All nasal symptoms statistically and clinically improved postoperatively. There were no significant differences in NOSE score changes among cases preoperatively and postoperatively according to age, sex, or the presence of allergic rhinitis or asthma. CONCLUSIONS: Nasal septoplasty with or without turbinoplasty leads to improvements in disease-specific quality of life as assessed by NOSE scores and significantly improved nasal symptoms 3 months after surgery.