Postoperative Change in Hypertrophic Rhinitis(Study Using Nasometer, CSL and Acoustic Rhinometer)

비후성 비염환자에서 음성검사 및 음향비강통기도검사를 이용한 수술전후 비교

Background and Objectives : With the development of computerized systems, an objective evaluation methods of nasal speech and nasal geometry have become readily available by means of a simple, noninvasive technique. In this study, we assessed the nasality, nasal formant, nasal volume and nasal area in patients with hypertrophic rhinitis before and after turbinate surgery. Material and Method : With the nasometer, we measured nasalance, which reflects the ratio of acoustic energy output of nasal sounds from the nasal and oral cavities. With CSL 4300B, we measured nasal formants. We used acoustic rhinometer to measure nasal area and nasal volume. Postoperative changes of above factors were compared with preoperative values. Paired t-test and Pearson's correlation were used for statistical analysis. Results : The first nasal formant frequency, nasalance scores of three passages(baby, mamma and rabbit passages), minimal cross sectional area(MCA) of narrow side, nasal volume of narrow side and nasal volume of wide side had increased significantly after turbinate surgery (p <0.05). The MCA and nasal volume of narrow side and MCA of wide side showed significant correlation with nasalance score of rabbit passage and baby passage showed significant correlation with nasal volume of narrow side(p<0.05). Conclusion : There were significant increases in nasalance scores, first nasal formant frequency, MCA and nasal volume after turbinate surgery. Thus, we must consider the possibility of voice changes postoperatively in professional voice users.