Plasma ablation-assisted endoscopic excision versus traditional technique of endoscopic excision of juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma.

Background: Juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma is the vascular and locally aggressive tumor of the posterior nares and nasopharynx. Endoscopic excision is the preferred surgical modality in early Radkowski stages. The prime challenge is intraoperative bleeding. Literature is in favor of the use of plasma ablation to overcome surgical challenges.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of plasma ablation technique in the surgical management of juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma.

Methods: The current study recruited 36 patients of clinico-radiologically diagnosed cases of primary JNA of stage I and II (Modified Radkowski). In prospective arm, 18 consecutive patients were recruited, who underwent plasma ablation assisted endoscopic excision. In retrospective arm, 18 consecutive patients who underwent excision by traditional endoscopic instruments in the past two years, were recruited. Both the groups were compared for baseline characteristics, intraoperative blood loss, duration of surgery, length of hospital stay, and recurrence rates.

Results: The use of plasma ablation decreased overall blood loss by 338 ml (mean difference) which was not statistically significant (p = 0.26). On subgroup analysis, the use of plasma ablation significantly decreased mean blood loss (648 ml, p = 0.046) and duration of surgery (83 min, p < 0.001) in patients who underwent embolization. No statistically significant difference was noted between two groups in length of hospital stay (p = 0.36) and recurrence rates (p = 0.64).

Conclusions: Plasma ablation is an effective technique available to decrease blood loss and duration of surgery during endoscopic excision of post embolized stage I and II patients of JNA.