Pediatric inferior turbinoplasty with or without adenoidectomy: Preliminary report on improvement of quality of life, symptom control, and safety

Objective: To determine quality of life (QOL) improvement, symptom control, and safety after inferior turbinoplasty (IT) with or without adenoidectomy (Ad) in children. Design: Retrospective uncontrolled cohort study. Setting: Tertiary care pediatric hospital. Methods: A prospective database was searched. The database contained information regarding age, gender, other diagnoses, and complications. Inclusion criteria were (1) children who presented with chronic rhinitis (CR) refractory to medical treatment and (2) children who underwent IT with or without Ad. Main Outcome Measures: The Glasgow Children's Benefit Inventory (GCBI) was used to assess QOL improvement. The GCBI calculates a score ranging from -100 (maximum harm) to +100 (maximum benefit), with 0 representing no change after surgery. Results: Eighty-seven patients were identified. Forty-one were excluded owing to concurrent lingual tonsillectomy or septal or sinus surgery. Forty-six consecutive patients were included. Data were obtained from all 46 patients (100%). The average age was 10 years, with 15 females and 31 males. One complication required admission. The GCBI scores showed that patients derived benefit in all domains (median GCBI 28.1, range -6.3 to 93.8). Conclusion: Preliminary results indicate that IT with or without Ad is a safe, beneficial procedure for CR in children. The impact of IT on QOL is comparable to that of well-established operations in otolaryngology.