cryosurgery vs trichloroacetic acid chemical cautery for the treatment of hypertrophied nasal turbinate: a comparative study

Introduction: the study aimed to compare the results of cryosurgery with trichloroacetic acid chemical (tca) cautery for the treatment of hypertrophied nasal turbinates.   materials and methods: this was a prospective study of 70 patients with nasal obstruction due to hypertrophied nasal turbinates who were randomly divided in 2 groups of 35 each. in group 1, patients underwent inferior nasal turbinate reduction by cryosurgery and in group 2 patients with cautery by 50 % tca. the patients were evaluated using snot-20 score pre and postoperatively on 6th month.   results: significant improvement in symptoms was seen in 28 patients (80 %) in group 1 and in 10 patients (28.57%) in group 2..improvement in average snot score after cauterization of hypertrophied nasal turbinates by cryosurgery was from 55(severe) to 16(mild) and by tca was from 54(severe) to 32(mod) in 6 months and this was statistically significant (p <0.001). complications like bleeding, scarring, infection and adhesion formation were more with tca than that of cryosurgery group and among these complications scarring was statistically significant (p =0.003).   conclusion: the use of cryosurgical treatment for hypertrophied nasal turbinates is a safe, curative method as compared to that of tca cautery which is less curative and with more complications.