Radiofrequency treatment of turbinate hypertrophy: A randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial

We sought to evaluate the short-term efficacy of radiofrequency volumetric tissue reduction (RFVTR) in treating nasal obstruction in subjects with inferior turbinate hypertrophy. We conducted a prospective, randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled trial with crossover option, involving 32 patients and performed in a clinical office setting at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center. The outcomes were measured using 10-cm visual analog scales (VASs) before treatment and at 8 weeks and 6 months posttreatment. Improvement was shown in frequency of obstruction, severity of obstruction, and overall ability to breathe for both the placebo and RFVTR treatment arms at 8 weeks ( P < 0.05). The amount of improvement, however, was significantly better in the treatment arm compared with placebo for the severity of obstruction and overall ability-to-breathe categories. At 6 months, the mean improvement scores were significantly better than the pretreatment scores for all 3 categories. RFVTR is an effective alternative for the treatment of patients with nasal obstruction due to inferior turbinate hypertrophy. This is the first randomized trial that demonstrates that RFVTR is significantly better than placebo in treating nasal obstruction due to inferior turbinate hypertrophy.