BackgroundThe goal of this study is to compare quality of life (Qol) and symptoms in 91 patients with a deviated nasal septum preoperatively and postoperatively with a control group of 93 healthy individuals.MethodsAll patients reported Qol on Sino-Nasal-Outcome-Test-20 (SNOT-20) and symptoms on visual analogue scale (VAS) preoperatively and 6 months after surgery and the results were compared with the controls.ResultsMean SNOT-20 score improved from 1.8(SD0.9) preoperatively to 0.9(SD0.8) postoperatively (p < 0.000) but did not reach the same level as the controls 0.4(SD0.5). Septum surgery leads to a significant symptom improvement for all symptoms investigated (p < 0.000) on VAS. The patients reached the same level as the healthy controls in 6 of 11 symptoms (headache, facial pain, sneezing, trouble with rhinosinusitis, cough and snoring) but the patients group had significantly more trouble with nasal blockage (VAS 29 vs 9), change in sense of smell (VAS 12 vs5), nasal discharge (VAS 22 vs 11), oral breathing (VAS 23 vs 13) and reduced general health (VAS 12 vs 5) also postoperatively (p < 0.01). Sub analyses showed that allergic patients reported a VAS score of 36 (SD30) for nasal blockage and 17 (SD22) for facial pressure postoperatively versus 23(SD22) and 6(SD13) in non-allergic patients (p < 0.03 and p < 0.01). Patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) reported more trouble with snoring on VAS postoperatively than other patients, 42(SD28) versus 20(SD23) (p < 0.002).ConclusionSeptoplasty leads to a highly significant improvement in Qol and symptoms. The patients do not reach the same level of Qol as healthy controls. All symptoms are reported as mild on VAS postoperatively.Allergic patients tend to report more nasal blockage and facial pressure postoperatively than other patients and a focus on medical treatment should be kept also postoperatively. Patients with obstructive sleep apnea report more trouble with snoring postoperatively and alterative treatment options for snoring may be considered in these patients.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12901-016-0031-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The present study demonstrates a significantly smaller nasal airway when assessed by minimum cross sectional area and nasal cavity volume in asthmatics than controls, and these findings apply to asthmatics and controls irrespective of allergy status.

BackgroundThe primary goal of this study is to compare pre- and postoperative symptoms and health related quality of life (HQOL) in 57 patients who underwent septoplasty (group-1), 56 patients who underwent septoplasty combined with radiofrequency therapy of inferior turbinates (RFIT) (group-2) and 58 patients who underwent RFIT alone (group-3). The secondary goal is to investigate if the change in symptoms and HQOL differed between these three patient groups after surgery.MethodsAll patients reported symptoms on a visual analogue scale (VAS) and HQOL on Sino-Nasal-Outcome-Test-20 (SNOT-20) and Short-Form-Health-Survey-36 (SF-36) before and 6 months after surgery. The pre- and postoperative scores and improvement were compared within and between the three patient groups.ResultsPreoperatively the three patient groups had a fairly similar symptom burden and HQOL, except for group-1 which reported more symptoms of oral breathing than group-3 (p < 0.01) and group-3 which reported more problems in the ear/facial--subset of SNOT-20 and in the general-mental-health-domain of SF-36 than group-1 (p < 0.01).Postoperatively all patient groups reported improved symptom scores of nasal obstruction, nasal discharge, snoring, oral breathing and reduced general health (p < 0.01), and better HQOL (p < 0.05). Patients in group-2 had less symptoms of nasal obstruction than group-3 (p < 0.05). Postoperative symptom score for nasal obstruction was 29.1 (SD67.6) in group-1, 27.5 (SD22.5) in group-2 and 37.2 (SD24.8) in group-3. Revision cases reported more nasal obstruction postoperatively; 41.3 (SD27) than non revision cases; 28.6 (SD24) (p < 0.01).The HQOL after surgery was about the same in all three patient groups, but we found that patients with comorbidities as sleep apnea and asthma reported worse HQOL than other patients (p < 0.01).ConclusionSurgical treatment of nasal obstruction led to less symptoms and better HQOL for all three patient groups. Comparing the postoperative scores between the patient groups we find that all groups reached the same level of HQOL. Regarding symptoms, the patients who underwent septoplasty combined with RFIT reported postoperatively less nasal obstruction than patients who underwent RFIT alone which may indicate that a combined procedure of septoplasty and RFIT is better than RFIT alone to treat nasal obstruction. Furthermore, revision cases, patients with sleep apnea and asthma patients seem to have poorer outcome after surgery than other patients. Both disease specific and general QOL instruments add valuable information for identifying factors influencing outcome.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12901-017-0050-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

OSA patients have a lower minimum cross-sectional area, nasal cavity volume and peak inspiratory flow compared to controls. Our study supports the view that changes in the nasal cavity may contribute to development of OSA.