The effects of endoscopic sinus surgery on the nasal cycle as assessed by acoustic rhinometry

Previous studies have demonstrated that acoustic rhinometry (AR) has a cons iderable utility in measuring nasal patency and in detecting the nasal cycl e. This study was performed in 10 patients with chronic rhinosinusitis who were submitted to endoscopic sinus surgery. AR was used to determine minimu m nasal cross-sectional area and volume as the indices of the nasal patency in all patients on the day before the surgery and 3 months postoperatively . We did not find any significant alteration when comparing the pattern of fluctuation, the periodically, and the amplitude of the nasal cycle demonst rated by patients in the pre and postoperative periods, confirming that thi s surgery does not have any adverse effect on this physiologic cycle.