Abstract
We operated using CO2 laser on the 26 patients who had allergic rhinitis with persistent symptoms in spite of conservative therapy. The ages of the patients were between 9 and 49. After local anesthesia we vaporized the inferior turbinate with 20W defocused beam. And to vaporized deep portions of the inferior turbinate we used a stainless steel mirror. This therapy was effective in 22 patients but not effective in 4 patients; and for sneezing the therapy was effective in 17 of the 21 patients, for nasal discharge in 16 of the 21, and for nasal obstruction in 22 of the 26. Four patients earned good results after only one vaporization, but 22 patients needed more procedures. We vaporized a group of 12 patients 5 times once in a week and another group of 10 patients 5 times once in two weeks; and the result was that once a week was better than once in two weeks. Compared with cryosurgery and diathermy the benefits of laser operation are thought to be 1) fewer complications than with other techniques, 2) technical easiness and 3) high effectiveness especially for patients with nasal obstruciton.
