The utility of enlarging symptomatic nasal septal perforations

Nasal septal perforations cause a subset of patients to suffer with significant impairments in quality of life. While smaller perforations can often be surgically repaired, perforations exceeding 2 cm are challenging to close. These repairs are highly technical, and there is a lack of consensus regarding the most effective means to do so. The authors performed a retrospective chart review of patients with perforation enlargements and have found that, in select patients, enlarging the septal perforation's edge posterior to the head of the middle turbinates has proven effective in relieving symptoms.