Septal Deformity Grading Helps Nasal Airway Obstruction Diagnosis

Would a septal deformity grading (SDG) system that accounts for anatomic location and grading of deformity severity help in nasal airway obstruction (NAO) diagnosis?

Bottom line
he reviewed SDG system addresses the challenge of providing objective anatomic information on the severity of nasal septal deformities, and may be valuable when used in conjunction with subjective data gathered from the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) questionnaire.

Background: NAO is a diagnostic challenge due to discrepancies between subjective symptoms and objective findings. Among NAO causes, nasal septum deformity is very common. There has been an assessment trend toward use of patient-reported outcome measures, specifically the NOSE scale. A standardized system would help address anatomic localization and inconsistent grading.

Study design: Retrospective cohort study of 120 patients with nasal obstruction.