An observational cohort study of the effects of septoplasty with or without inferior turbinate reduction in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

Background The objective of this observational study was to evaluate the outcomes of intranasal surgery in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in a single institution in Norway. Methods Fifty-nine patients with OSA and clinically significant nasal obstruction underwent either septoplasty alone or septoplasty with concomitant volume reduction of the turbinates from August 2008 until the end of December 2010. Subjects were scheduled for sleep polygraphy before and 3 months after treatment. In this observational single-centre cohort study we evaluated and compared the effect of these two specific surgical procedures on sleep related parameters. Results There was a significant reduction in the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) only in the group that had septoplasty with turbinate reduction (17.4, (SD 14.4) – 11.7, (SD 8.2), p