Balloon eustachian tuboplasty and inferior turbinectomy
Reviewed by Sunil Sharma

This Taiwanese prospective case-control study looked at concurrent inferior turbinectomy (via submucosal turbinectomy) and balloon eustachian tuboplasty on symptoms related to eustachian tube dysfunction. A total of 50 patients who underwent inferior turbinectomy with balloon eustachian tuboplasty were recruited prospectively and compared to another age and sex-matched 50 retrospective patients who didn’t undergo inferior turbinectomy but had balloon eustachian tuboplasty as a control group. The Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire-7 (ETDQ-7) and Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scores were used to compare the two groups. There were significantly better postoperative ETDQ-7 scores in the group who had concurrent inferior turbinectomy (preoperative: 24.9±5.91 vs 25.3±6.91 (p=0.79), postoperative: 13.7±4.75 vs 17.2±5.71 (p=0.02)) and significantly better NOSE scores (preoperative: 74±13.45 vs 77±14.29 (p=0.26), postoperative: 25.9±4.7 vs 75.9±8.7 (p<0.0001)). As would be expected, the total nasal resistance and nasal airflow scores improved postoperatively in those patients who had concurrent inferior turbinectomy. The results would suggest that concurrent inferior turbinectomy with balloon eustachian tuboplasty provides better symptomatic outcomes than those just treated with balloon eustachian tuboplasty alone. With balloon eustachian tuboplasty growing in popularity to treat eustachian tube dysfunction, this study raises an interesting prospect regarding the benefits of treating nasal obstructive symptoms at the same time.

Balloon eustachian tuboplasty with or without inferior turbinectomy for chronic nasal obstruction with obstructive eustachian tube dysfunction.
Lin WC, Hsieh CY, Yu SH, et al.
B-ENT
2022;18(4):232-8.