Comparison of nasal mucociliary clearance in adenoid hypertrophy with or without otitis media with effusion

Abstract

Objective: To investigate pre- and postoperative mucociliary clearance in patients with adenoid hypertrophy or combined with otitis media with effusion. Methods: Patients were divided into two groups: Group 1-patients with adenoid hypertrophy (AH), and Group 2 patients with AH and otitis media with effusion (AHOME). In all patients, AH size was recorded, and the Andersen saccharin and methylene blue tests were conducted before and 1 month after surgery to obtain mucociliary clearance time (MCT). Nasal cavity length was measured intraoperatively to establish mucociliary clearance velocity (MCV). Patients with allergic rhinitis, active infection, and history of nasal or ear surgery were excluded. Results: This study included 64 patients with a mean age of 8.34 +/- 2.98 years (range: 3-18 years). Pre- and postoperative MCT were 14.60 +/- 4.83 and 9.48 +/- 2.63 min in Group 1 and 16.03 +/- 4.31 and 12.12 +/- 3.78 mm-in Group 2, respectively. Pre- and postoperative MCV were 0.77 +/- 0.30 and 1.16 +/- 0.42 mm/min in Group 1 and 0.67 +/- 0.16 and 0.89 +/- 0.28 mm/min in Group 2, respectively. MCT and MCV were significantly improved postoperatively in both groups (p < 0.001). In addition, the postoperative MCT and MCV of Group 1 were significantly better than those of Group 2(p < 0.001). Exposure to cigarette smoking and adenoid size had negative correlations with mucociliary clearance. Conclusions: Otitis media was associated with impaired mucociliary clearance and further studies should be performed to demonstrate the causes of this deficiency.