Diode laser versus bipolar diathermy for turbinate reduction in cases of inferior turbinate hypertrophy

This study was designed to assess the surgical outcomes of two commonly used techniques for turbinate reduction (diode laser and bipolar diathermy) in selected group of patients with chronic nasal obstruction which resulted from inferior turbinate hypertrophy. The current study was conducted on adult patients with a diagnosis of inferior turbinate hypertrophy. 42 patients (21 in each group) with an age range of 21–38 years (mean = 26.0 ± 4.1) were included in this work and were randomly distributed in 2 groups: one group was scheduled for diode laser turbinectomy (DLT) while the other group was managed by bipolar diathermy (BDT). In DLT, the machine was on a continuous mode with intermittent loading, with laser energy level set to 6 W (0.3-s pulse, 0.1-s break). Pre- and postoperative assessments were statistically compared via tests from SPSS 19.0 (IBM, Chicago, Illinois; USA). Percentage of categorical variables were compared using the Chi-square (χ²) test. P < 0.05 was considered significant, P˃0.05 was considered non-significant, and P < 0.001 was considered highly significant. At 6 months postoperatively, in cases of DLT, there was high significant improvement as regards nasal obstruction and headache (χ² = 64.78 and 39 respectively; P < 0.0001). There was insignificant difference as regards rhinorrhea (χ² = 5.524; P = 0.137). In comparison to the postoperative data of both groups, significant difference was reported as regards nasal obstruction and headache (P < 0.001) and rhinorrhea (P < 0.05). This study demonstrated that both laser and bipolar cautery are effective in improving nasal obstruction and rhinorrhea. Preservation of the nasal mucociliary function was better in the diode laser group.