Background: To determine the benefits of nasal irrigation after radiofrequency tissue volume reduction (RFTVR) for inferior turbinate hypertrophy (ITH) in terms of nasal obstructive symptoms, endoscopic nasal findings, and acoustic rhinometry. An equivalence randomized controlled trial was performed at the Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, Thailand.

Methods: Seventy-nine subjects with ITH planned for RFTVR were enrolled consecutively. The intervention was randomized into two groups: with and without nasal saline irrigation. Primary outcome was visual analog scale (VAS; 0-10) of postoperative nasal obstructive symptoms. Rhinorrhea, pain, nasal itching and sneezing, foul odor, bleeding, crusting and discharge, and patient satisfaction were self-assessed by the patients. Findings from endoscopic nasal examination and acoustic rhinometry (total nasal volume and cross-sectional area 2 [CSA2]) were performed before and after the intervention by blinded assessors.

Results: The study revealed no difference of nasal obstruction and other symptoms between the saline group and the control group on the 1st postoperative week, except nasal itching and sneezing. The saline group had itching and sneezing symptoms lower than the control group on the 5th-7th postoperative day. All patients had minimal or no postoperative nasal bleeding. There were also no differences of satisfaction and acoustic rhinometry findings between both groups.

Conclusion: The nasal irrigation with normal saline had no additional benefits after RFTVR for ITH in terms of nasal obstructive symptoms, endoscopic nasal findings, and acoustic rhinometry except nasal itching and sneezing symptoms.