Radiofrequency treatment of turbinate hypertrophy: a randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to evaluate the short-term efficacy of radiofrequency volumetric tissue reduction (RFVTR) in treating nasal obstruction in subjects with inferior turbinate hypertrophy.

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We conducted a prospective, randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled trial with crossover option, involving 32 patients and performed in a clinical office setting at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center.

RESULTS: The outcomes were measured using 10-cm visual analog scales (VASs) before treatment and at 8 weeks and 6 months posttreatment. Improvement was shown in frequency of obstruction, severity of obstruction, and overall ability to breathe for both the placebo and RFVTR treatment arms at 8 weeks (P < 0.05). The amount of improvement, however, was significantly better in the treatment arm compared with placebo for the severity of obstruction and overall ability-to-breathe categories. At 6 months, the mean improvement scores were significantly better than the pretreatment scores for all 3 categories.

CONCLUSIONS: RFVTR is an effective alternative for the treatment of patients with nasal obstruction due to inferior turbinate hypertrophy.

SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first randomized trial that demonstrates that RFVTR is significantly better than placebo in treating nasal obstruction due to inferior turbinate hypertrophy.