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This procedure is carried out under local anaesthetic. The administration of local anaesthetic involves no needles, simply the application of a small piece of cotton wool into the nose. This cotton wool will have been moistened in a solution containing cocaine. This drug is highly effective at numbing and reducing the blood supply of the nose. The cotton wool is kept in place for ten minutes prior to surgery. At that point you will be taken into the laser room and sat in a chair, upright. Once the cotton wool has been gently removed the nose will be inspected and the nostrils gently moved apart by an instrument. A small laser nose device will be gently placed into the front area of the nose and you will be asked to take a deep breath in. You will then be asked to exhale through the nose, at which point lasering will occur in short bursts of up to one-second duration. There is usually no pain and no bleeding. The principle of the procedure is to remove a small amount of the lining over the inferior turbinate bone inside the nose. A good result is generally when up to three millimetres of tissue has been removed from the front end of this turbinate bone. It is at this point (“the nasal valve”) that most of the obstruction to breathing through the nose occurs and therefore a small improvement at this point will lead to a large improvement in the general flow through the nose.

Once the operation has been completed (approximately ten minutes for one side), a small amount of antiseptic cream will be applied inside the nose. This does contain traces of Arachis oil and those that are allergic to peanuts should not have it. This cream will then be prescribed to you post operatively to be applied once a day inside the nose for one week after surgery. A small amount of scabbing may occur inside the nose, the cream will help to keep this moist and able to be gently blown out. The usual care for the nose after surgery is to avoid blowing for approximately 48 hours after surgery then blow gently for the first ten days after surgery.

Follow up is at four weeks, at which stage if there has been a good result from the first side, the second side can be treated.

It should be noted that with time the lining of the nose will regrow and it is possible that this procedure will need to be repeated every 18 months or so. It is also important to note that this procedure does not take the place of standard medication such as the use of topical steroid sprays and antihistamines. It is quite common for patients to need these after surgery although usually before surgery they will have had a course of this form of treatment which will have been unsuccessful and that is why surgery would have been performed.

London Laser Clinic – Clinical Policy

Laser Reduction of Inferior Turbinate – Operation No. 6

Inferior Turbinate Reduction – Local anaesthetic or general anaesthetic.

This is not first line treatment for blocked noses. The typical patient who has this procedure performed is some one who has previously seen a GP with an interest in ENT or indeed another ENT Surgeon, standard treatment would have been tried, this would usually include topical steroid spray/drops and histamine spray/tablets, allergy tests and information regarding avoidance of allergens. Surgical intervention may already have been tried, this would in particular have included Septoplasty and reduction of the inferior turbinates whether by submucosal diathermy, linear cautery or out-fracture. The best patient is one who will have initially had a good response from turbinate reduction but the condition has gradually returned over the period of a couple of years. Obviously there will have been little or do response to topical steroids or systemic antihistamines.

The procedure itself is best performed one side at a time.

Pricing:

To view pricing information for this procedure, click here.