Overview
The main indications for nasal surgery are:
- Nasal airway obstruction
- Septal spur headache
- Uncontrollable nosebleeds
- Nasal septal deformity in the presence of other intranasal surgery
Nasal airway obstruction is usually the result of a septal deformity that causes breathing by mouth, sleep apnea, or recurrent nasal infections that are slow to respond to antibiotics.
A septal spur headache is defined as a headache secondary to pressure from the nasal septum on the linings in side the nose (septal impaction) and relieved by topical (applied to a localized area of the skin) anesthesia on the septal impaction.
Other intranasal surgery indicating septoplasty includes polypectomy (removal of a polyp), ethmoidectomy (operation on the ethmoid bone at the superior part of the nasal cavity), turbinate surgery (operation on the concha nasalis), and tumor removal.
Review Date 6/4/2023
Updated by: Josef Shargorodsky, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.