Endoscopic Findings in Adults with Nasal Obstruction: A case series study

Background: The obstruction of the nasal is known as the most distinct disturbing complain of nasal disease and nasal sinus. The nasal obstruction could either be found unilateral (in one nasal cavity), bilateral (in both cavities), intermittent, progressive or persistent. The rhino-scopy (anterior and posterior) provides limited information when compared to nasal endoscopy. In certain cases, the structure which lies under the sight line and the posterior rhino-scopy is not possible. Furthermore, the early diagnosis of many unpleasant lesions will be very difficult unless using nasal endoscopy. Objectives: This study was designed to identify the real & precise causes of nasal obstruction in adults & properly evaluate the condition of nasal cavity ,post nasal space and nasal mucosa by direct vision through nasal endoscopy. and evaluate the value of naso endoscopy in diagnosis of the cause of nasal obstruction. Methods: This study was conducted to analyze noses related to 75 patients with nasal obstruction who underwent clinical and endoscopic nasal examination for the period from May 2014 to April 2015 in Mosul namely; Al-jumhoori Teaching hospital. Results: This case series study included 75 patients complaining from nasal obstruction The study include 43 male patients (57.3%), and 32 female patients (42.6%) with a M:F ratio of (1.3:1). The patients’ ages ranged between 15-70 years of age whose mean age was 42.5 years. endoscopic findings for adults patients with nasal obstruction in our study were: congested nasal mucosa 40 (53.3%) patients, septal deviation 26 (34.6%) patients, inferior turbinate hypertrophy 18 (24.0%) patients, pale swollen mucosa with watery nasal secretion 14 (18.6%) patients, bilateral nasal polyposis 10 (13.3%), post nasal drip 10 (13.3%), crustation 8 (10.6%), mucopurulent discharge from middle meatus & congested mucosa 7 patients (9.3%), adenoid hypertrophy 5 patients (6.6%), no abnormal findings 4 patients (5.3%), bluish tinged mucosa with watery nasal secretion 3 patients (4.0%). Conclusion: Nasal endoscopy includes evaluating the passages of the nasal cavity and the nasal sinus, and post nasal space using a magnified high-quality view and serves as an objective diagnostic tool in the evaluating of nasal mucosa, sinonasal anatomy, nasal cavity, and post nasal space pathology. In this study, nasal endoscopy is recommended in cases where patients complain of obstruction in the nasal specifically when anterior and posterior rhino-scopic examinations do not succeed in diagnosing causes of nasal obstruction