Pediatric nasal valve surgery: Short-term outcomes and complications

Objectives

To examine the short-term outcomes and complications of open nasal valve surgery in children under 16 years of age. Study design: case series and chart review study setting: an urban, tertiary, pediatric otolaryngology practice.

Methods

Children under 16 years of age who had undergone nasal valve surgery with cartilage grafting for functional indications were identified. Patients with cleft-related nasal deformities were excluded. Charts were reviewed for indications and short-term outcomes (patient satisfaction and postoperative complications within the first 90 days). A literature review assessed prior outcomes in adult nasal valve patients.

Results

Fifteen pediatric patients, 15 years old or younger, were identified as having undergone open nasal valve repair utilizing septal or auricular cartilage grafts. Patient age ranged from 6 to 15 years. Surgical indications were nasal obstruction with nasal valve stenosis related to either previous trauma (n = 10), congenital deformity (n = 3), iatrogenic injury (n = 1) or hemangioma of infancy (n = 1). All patients noted improvement of symptoms at the 90 day interval or later. There was one episode of self-limited epistaxis, which occurred on postoperative day 7 following splint removal.

Conclusions

In children, an obstructive nasal breathing pattern may be caused by nasal valve collapse, which can be addressed with nasal valve surgery. This small series suggests that short-term results in children may be similar to those observed in the adult population. Pediatric nasal valve surgery outcomes have not been described previously; studies focused on long-term outcomes following pediatric nasal valve surgery are needed.

Level of evidence

4.