Nasal laser mucotomy (L-mucotomy) of the interior turbinates

Abstract

Eighty-seven patients who were treated by laser mucotomy (L-mucotomy) of the inferior turbinates were followed-up for one year. Patients presented for laser surgery because of one of the three following symptoms: sneezing, rhinorrhoea, or nasal obstruction. All of them had had prior conservative or surgical treatments for their symptoms without improvement in their complaints and/or quality of life. L-mucotomy is a simple procedure performed under local anaesthesia on an ambulatory basis. A controlled amount of tissue from the inferior turbinates is ablated with improvement in the symptoms, as reported by the patients one year after laser surgery. The procedure is easy to perform, there is no bleeding, it is painless and without complications, but it requires rather expensive surgical equipment.