ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Otorinolaringologia 2000 June;50(2):95-8

Copyright © 2009 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Surgery of the inferior turbinates by radiofrequency

Speciale R., Restivo S., Gallina S., Cupido G., Giammanco A. M.

Policlinico Universitario - Palermo Clinica Otorinolaringoiatrica Base (Direttore: Prof. Restivo)

Background. Surgery of the infe­ri­or tur­bi­nate ­includes func­tion­al pro­ce­dures and inva­sive pro­ce­dures. Recently func­tion­al ­nasal sur­gery ­includes radio­fre­quen­cy ener­gy for sub­mu­co­sal tis­sue abla­tion to pre­serve sur­face func­tion­ing of the tur­bi­nate. Personal ­study in 240 ­patients ­with infe­ri­or tur­bi­nate hyper­tro­phy is report­ed.
Methods. Two gen­er­a­tors of ­radio ­waves ener­gy are ­used: the ­first gen­er­a­tor is ­used at a fre­quen­cy of 3.8 MHz, ­with max­i­mum pow­er of 140 ­watts (Surgitron fpf); the sec­ond is ­used at a fre­quen­cy of 3.8 MHz, ­with max­i­mum pow­er of 90 ­watts (Dento-sur­gery). All ­patients pre­sent­ed ­nasal obstruc­tive symp­toms for vas­o­mo­tor or aller­gic rhin­itis refrac­to­ry to med­i­cal treat­ment. A radio­fre­quen­cy ­system ­with bipo­lar elec­trode has ­been ­used; the RF nee­dles of 50-mm ­length had an ­exposed ­active tip of 10-mm ­length. The nee­dles ­have ­been insert­ed lon­gi­tu­di­nal­ly ­into the infe­ri­or tur­bi­nate ­bone.
Results. Radiosurgery is a sim­ple pro­ce­dure for ­patients ­under ­local anes­the­sia. In all the ­patients (100%) ­nasal obstruc­tion was sub­jec­tive­ly ­improved at 1 and 3 ­weeks.
Conclusions. Radiofrequency tis­sue abla­tion for infe­ri­or tur­bi­nate reduc­tion is a min­i­mal­ly inva­sive tech­nique. Surgical pro­ce­dure is ­quite sim­ple, the com­pli­ance of the ­patients is ­good and ­also ­this pro­ce­dure is ­safe and ­well tol­ler­at­ed.