Surgical Outcomes of Bony Batten Grafting Through Endonasal Septoplasty in the Correction of Caudal Septum Deviation.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficiency and usefulness of bony batten grafts through endonasal septoplasty in the correction of caudal septum deviations.

Methods: In this case-controlled retrospective study, 65 patients who had bony batten graft procedure for the correction of caudal septum deviation using endonasal septoplasty with complete pre-operative and post-operative questionnaire information and complete post-operative follow-up data (an average follow-up period of 24.1 months) in our hospital in September 2013 and August 2018 period were evaluated. Nasal Obstruction Symptoms Evaluation (NOSE) scores of the patients before and after the operation were compared. Besides, severity of nasal symptoms (mouth dryness, hyposmia, rhinorrhea, epistaxis and snoring) before and after the operation was compared using visual analog scale (VAS). Complications which developed in post-operative period were also analyzed.

Results: Average age of the 65 patients (14 female and 51 male) was 27.6 ± 11.3. A straight septum was achieved in 57 patients (87.6%) in post-operative period while 8 patients (12.4%) had residual deviation. Average pre-operative NOSE score was 79.8 ± 22.3 while average post-operative NOSE score was 21.4 ± 4.6 and the difference was significant (P < 0.0001). Significant improvements were observed in VAS scores of all evaluated symptoms in post-operative period. Two patients developed septal hematoma in post-operative period.

Conclusions: Bony batten graft procedure through endonasal septoplasty is an efficient and useful method with low complication rate for the correction of deviation of caudal septum.