Nasal resistance asymmetry as a predictor of satisfaction following nasal airway obstruction surgeries

Patients’ subjective assessment of nasal patency often does not correspond to the objective results of functional and imaging examinations. The objective of this study was to identify the rhinometry (AR) and rhinomanometry (RMM) parameters that were best correlated to patients’ self-evaluation of nasal patency before and after nasal airway obstruction surgery. The study material consisted of RMM and AR results as well as SNOT-20 self-evaluation questionnaires completed by 233 patients presenting with rhinological problems and routinely diagnosed at the RMM Lab of the Department and Clinic of Otolaryngology of the Medical University of Warsaw. Data were collected from 70 females (31.4%) aged 18 through 81 years and 153 males (68.6%) aged 16 through 81 years. The results were subjected to statistical analysis by a licensed statistician using the Statistica 10 software package. A statistically significant relationship was demonstrated between the subjective perception of nasal patency and RMM results. The higher the asymmetry of air flow within the left and the right nasal cavity, the higher the perceived restriction of nasal patency. Significant differences were observed between patients reporting maximum discomfort regarding impaired nasal patency and the remaining patients: the former were characterized by nasal resistance values being several-fold higher than that observed in the latter while nearly always improving after nasal airway obstruction surgeries. No significant reflection of patients’ self-evaluation of nasal patency was found in the acoustic rhinometry measurements.