Endoscope-assisted rhinoplasty: enhancing precision or extending procedure duration?

[OBJECTIVE] The endoscope in rhinology surgeries is a modern tool that can provide significant benefits. By offering a better view of intranasal pathologies, it can assist in diagnosing and treating them more conveniently. In particular, in cases where minimal nasal invasion is required, endoscope assistance can be especially beneficial during short and comfortable periods of rhinoplasty surgery.

[PATIENTS AND METHODS] Twenty-one patients who underwent endoscope-assisted rhinoplasty were enrolled in this study. Four parameters were retrospectively evaluated: patients, endoscope, mentor-mentees, and postoperative. Under the patient parameters, we assessed sociodemographic data and intranasal pathologies such as septum deviation patterns and middle and inferior concha pathologies. The endoscope parameters include the evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of using the tool during surgery. In mentor-mentee parameters, we evaluated self-designed satisfaction questionnaires from surgery assistants, nurses and surgeons and also postoperative parameters and Visual Analog Scale (VAS, 0-10) scores from surgery assistants, patients, and surgeons after surgery.

[RESULTS] Endoscopic septoplasty during rhinoplasty offers several advantages over traditional septoplasty with surgical headlight. Notably, high VAS scores were observed in surgery assistants and patients (9.57±0.8  and 9.28±0.9, respectively). Based on self-designed satisfaction questionnaires, 85% of participants (54 out of 63) expressed "very satisfied" ratings for endoscope-assisted rhinoplasty surgery, and 80% (50 out of 63) indicated a likelihood to recommend this surgical approach to colleagues.

[CONCLUSIONS] Endoscopic septoplasty during rhinoplasty is an educational, efficient, and more advantageous method recommended for correcting intranasal pathologies.