Surgical Reduction of the Inferior Turbinates for Nasal Obstruction

The primary goal of this post-marketing surveillance study is to assess whether surgical turbinate reduction performed using a Coblation® device is associated with reduced nasal obstruction symptoms.

Chronic rhinitis, or inflammation of the nasal mucosa, is one of the most common causes of nasal obstruction in the pediatric population. Chronic rhinitis may result in mucous gland hypertrophy, engorgement of the vascular system and deposition of collagen in the nasal mucosa. These changes occur most prominently in the inferior turbinate, causing enlargement and nasal obstruction. In children, inferior turbinate hypertrophy is associated with a greater degree of nasal obstruction relative to adults because of their small nasal anatomy. Cases that do not respond to conservative treatments may be considered for one of many surgical procedures, including turbinate excision, submucosal resection, submucosal cautery, laser treatment, cryosurgery, powered microdebridement, or radiofrequency-based ablation. Clinical studies have shown that bipolar radiofrequency-based plasma (Coblation®) devices are capable of creating focal submucosal lesions with minimal or no damage to structures adjacent to the treated area. At present, however, this technique has not been formally evaluated in children. This study will investigate whether surgical turbinate reduction performed using a Coblation device is associated with reduced nasal obstruction symptoms that has failed to improve with other treatment methodologies.