EXTERNAL SEPTORHINOPLASTY IN CHILDREN - OUTCOME AND EFFECT ON GROWTH OF SEPTAL EXCISION AND REIMPLANTATION

Outcome and effect on nasal growth of external septorhinoplasty was ev aluated in 32 children. All had septal disease anterior to the nasal s pine. In all cases, the cartilaginous septum was totally excised, refa shioned, and then reinserted. Sixteen children with follow-up for more than 2 years were identified. Nine children had preoperative and post operative nasal airflow studies and demonstrated a reduction in total nasal airway resistance, from a mean untreated value of 6.1 cm of wate r per centimeter per second preoperatively to a mean of 2.5 cm of wate r per centimeter per second postoperatively. In 10 of these 16 childre n, six post-operative anthropometric measures and one index were deter mined, and these measurements were within the range of age- and sex-sp ecific normative data from the Craniofacial Measurements Laboratory at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario.