Long-term symptom relief after septoplasty

The results for long-term symptom relief after septoplasty are contradictory in reviewed publications but the findings suggest that results are unsatisfactory. In this study, we analyzed and compared short- and long-term symptom relief after septoplasty and factors possibly associated with symptom relief. 111 patients that underwent septoplasty between 2008 and 2010 were included in the study. Medical charts were reviewed for preoperative characteristics and assessments. Data on short-term symptom relief (6 months) were retrieved from the Swedish National Quality Registry for Septoplasty; data on long-term symptom relief (34–70 months) were collected through a questionnaire. Upon the 34–70 month follow-up, 53 % of the patients reported that symptoms either remained or had worsened and 83 % reported nasal obstruction. Degree of symptom relief was significantly higher among patients not reporting nasal obstruction than among patients reporting nasal obstruction at long-term follow-up. The proportion of patients that reported “my symptoms are gone” declined from 53 % after 6 months to 18 % after 34–70 months. None of the factors taken into consideration, age at surgery, gender, follow-up time, primary operation/reoperation, history of nasal trauma, self-reported allergy, rhinometric obstruction, or same sided rhinometric, clinical and subjective nasal obstruction were associated with symptom relief. The long-term results after septoplasty are unsatisfactory. A majority of patients report that their symptoms remain after septoplasty.