KILONGOLA, CHRISTOPHER. J .
Description:
BACKGROUND
Partial inferior turbinectomy is becoming increasingly popular as a method of relieving obstruction caused by hypertrophied inferior turbinates secondary to allergic rhinitis when medications have failed. Success rate of 63% to 94% have been reported (Ceourtiers et al 1973, Martinez 2005).Complication of the procedure include infections, crusting, dryness, adhesion, epiphorsa and septal perforation (Martinez 2005), but many ENT surgeons feel that the dual risks of severe haemorrhage and rhinitis are unwarranted ( Dawes 2009). METHODOLOGY This was a retrospective crossectional study which was designed using Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) medical records files data for patients who underwent partial inferior Turbinectomy between January 2013 and May 2016. Data processing and analysis was done using SPSS version 20.0 and study approval was through the KCMC ENT head of department
RESULTS
A total of 203 files for patients who underwent PIT surgery from January 2013 to May 2016 were obtained in the medical records department. Majority of the patients 49.3%were above 18 years old with the median age of 17 years. Females were 121(59.6%) while males were 82(40.4%).Half of the patients 50.3% resided in Kilimanjaro region and most of them 59.1% were students. The prevalence of PIT surgery alone was 81.7% .Acute Hypertrophic Allergic Rhinitis (HAR) was the leading indication of PIT surgery with 67.5% of the patients suffering from it. The inferior turbinate were moderately enlarged and none obstructive in 46.8% of the patients.20 patients (9.9%) of the patients had nasal bleeding and was reported to be the leading complication. 91(45%) of the 203 patients responded to the phone interview questionnaire about the late complications and more than a half 63 patients (69.3%) had complications with rhinnorrhea 33.7% of the 91 patients being the leading.
CONCLUSION
The study demonstrated that PIT surgery might not be a permanent solution for relieving nasal obstruction for patients with Allergic Rhinitis because 63 out of the 91 patients who responded to
xi
the late complication phone interview still had persistent problems. The complications are common but if effectively managed they can be minimized .However, the relative short follow up (phoning patients and asking about the late complications) at involved only 45% of all the patients is insufficient to make a definitive statement about the long term outcomes of PIT surgery. Further studies on the subject should be done especially in Tanzania.