Analysis of nasal air flow following repair of vestibular stenosis.

Objective: Vestibular stenosis is an uncommon but debilitating cause of nasal obstruction. The etiology of the stenosis is variable, but iatrogenic causes are by far the most common. A number of techniques have been described for repair of the stenotic segment. We present a surgical technique that employs the concepts of: excision of the stenotic segment, enlargement of the bony pyriform aperture, and placement of a full-thickness skin graft.

Results: Our results have been very favourable, and we have documented improvement in nasal obstruction by performing preoperative and postoperative nasal airflow studies on all our patients.

Conclusions: These results suggest that significant improvement in nasal airflow can be obtained in most patients with the use of this technique.