Many patients come to the clinic with complaints of nasal congestion, which occurs due to changes in weather conditions and provokes difficulty breathing. This uncomfortable condition can be eliminated by vasotomy surgery. Recovery after vasotomy is short, and the patient quickly and easily returns to normal life. What is the essence of this operation?
The submucosal layer covering the nasal concha contains a large number of blood vessels that form a kind of plexus. They are quite sensitive to changes in the external environment - primarily to changes in
- temperature conditions
- atmospheric pressure;
- humidity.
Changes in these parameters cause the plexuses to contract or expand, and the nasal cavity lumen increases or decreases accordingly. If there is a failure of regulation of contractions, the plexuses overflow with blood, which causes nasal congestion. In this case, a diagnosis of vasomotor rhinitis is made.
Bilateral vasotomy surgery is a dissection of the plexuses of the lower nasal concha, so that blood does not enter and overflow them, and as a result, the mucous membrane does not swell. After such a surgical intervention, patients who have been unable to do without vasoconstrictor drugs for many years are able to breathe freely through the nose again, regardless of the weather and meteorological conditions.
Vasotomy is indicated for
- prolonged persistent rhinitis with nasal congestion
- hypertrophy (thickening) of the nasal mucosa;
- curvature of the nasal septum accompanied by hypertrophy of the nasal mucosa.
Vasotomy of the lower nasal concha is a local surgical intervention for which local anesthesia is sufficient. For anesthesia, modern anesthetics are used that do not cause allergies and other side effects - neither from the respiratory system nor from the whole body. They are applied directly to the mucous membrane of the nasal concha - such anesthesia is called application anesthesia.
Surgical intervention can be performed on the left or right side of the nasal concha, but it is mostly bilateral, since the regulation of the vascular plexuses is usually damaged on both sides.
To date, several effective types of vasotomy have been developed. They differ in the method of action on the nasal plexus and the technique of the procedure. Types of vasotomy:
instrumental - the vascular plexuses are crossed with a scalpel;
- laser - a laser beam is used to destroy the plexuses;
- radio wave vasotomy (or radio coagulation) - the plexus of the nasal concha is affected by radio waves with a given frequency;
- vacuum resection - a tube connected to a pump is inserted into the submucosal layer, the plexus is destroyed by creating negative pressure;
- ultrasonic disintegration - the plexus is exposed to ultrasound.
Patients who are interested in medicine know that there are other methods of improving nasal breathing, such as septoplasty. But it is important to understand the difference between septoplasty and vasotomy. In the first case, nasal breathing is improved by plastic surgery (reshaping) of the curved nasal septum, and in the second case, by acting on swollen blood vessels. Only a specialist can determine which type of surgical correction of breathing difficulties is suitable for a particular patient.
Sometimes a doctor is asked: “Submucosal vasotomy - what is it?” This is the surgical intervention that we are now considering. The word “submucosal” demonstrates the technical essence of the operation - the vessels that are affected are located in the submucosal layer of the nasal concha.
You can read more about the nuances of vasotomy on our website Dobrobut.com. Here you can also find out the price of laser vasotomy and other types of surgery.
For some time after the operation, the patient will feel nasal congestion due to tissue swelling. During the vasotomy, minimal tissue destruction occurs (including the mucous and submucosal layers of the nasal concha), and the tampons used to fill the nasal cavity after the operation will be saturated with sucrose discharge for several days.
Bilateral vasotomy surgery is an invasive procedure, but tissue microtraumas heal quickly, and the patient immediately returns to the usual rhythm of life. But in any case, it is not recommended in the first days after surgery:
- vigorous blowing of nose;
- mechanical cleaning of the nasal passages (even if it is performed with soft tissue or cotton tourniquets).
Nasal tampons should be changed without excessive mechanical effort. The nasal passages themselves can be gently rinsed by drawing a small amount of warm boiled water into the nose.
- Clinical Practice Guideline: Adult Sinusitis (Update). - This guideline was published in the April 2015 issue of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery on April 1.
- Diagnostic Criteria for Rhinosinusitis. - SOURCE: Rosenfeld RM, Piccirillo JF, Chandrasekhar, SS, et al. Clinical Practice Guideline: Adult Sinusitis. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. April 2015; 152(S2):s1-s39.
- Clinical Practice Guideline: Evaluation of the Neck Mass in Adults. - This guideline was published in the September 2017 issue of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery on September 10.
- Tuan A. Truong, MD. - Initial Assessment and Evaluation of Traumatic Facial Injuries
- METHODICAL GIDE (for the self-study work) from surgical dentistry. - For the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University. Department of Surgical Dentistry and Maxillofacial, 2019
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