下鼻甲骨肥大阻呼吸

鼻甲骨 (turbinate) 滿布黏膜及血管，幫助濕潤及暖化吸入的空氣，但如果你有長期鼻炎及過敏性鼻炎，便會刺激黏膜增生加厚，導致鼻甲骨腫脹肥大 (turbinate hypertrophy)，嚴重時更可能會阻塞氣道，令你出現持續及長期鼻塞。

事實上，鼻甲骨肥大是導致鼻塞的常見原因，而下鼻甲骨是最貼近鼻孔的部位，所以一旦它出現肥大就很容易引起呼吸不暢及鼻塞，不少患者因此而改用口呼吸，結果誘發相關的後遺症，包括增加患上慢性咽喉炎、睡眠窒息症及鼻竇炎等問題，有時早上起床時更會有頭痛的情況。你可以接受鼻內窺鏡檢查以確定是否有下鼻甲骨肥大。

如果病人有下鼻甲骨肥大的情況，醫生一般都會嘗試先以藥物治療及控制病情，若藥物無效病人便可考慮進行下鼻甲骨切除術，避免長期受鼻塞的困擾。傳統手術是以鉸剪切除下鼻甲骨，創傷性較大，出血風險較高，故病人通常需入院進行。至於激光切除手術的創傷性會較低，過程中病人幾乎不流一滴血，痛楚亦少，而且可以在診所進行，比較快捷及方便，而療效亦十分理想。

Turbinate is an important part of the nose that helps humidify air during breathing. We normally have 3 turbinates on each side of the nose: superior (highest), middle, and inferior (lowest) turbinates. In chronic sinusitis or allergic rhinitis, however, inferior turbinate can become large and obstruct the airway.
Initial treatment in turbinate hypertrophy is medical, typically with nasal steroid spray such as flonase and nasonex. A trial of at least a month is recommended. Should nasal obstruction continues, there are a number of surgical approaches advocated. Turbinectomy (cutting out part of or the entire turbinate) carries a higher risk for crusting, bleeding, and empty nose syndrome postoperatively. Resecting just the bony component of the turbinate while leaving mucosa intact (submucous resection) has been shown to decrease the risk of crusting. Newer techniques such as laser and coblation have been demonstrated to reduce bleeding during the operation. Recovery time usually is between 1-2 weeks. Pain is usually minimal. Patients are advised to avoid blood thinners and strenuous activities for 2 weeks after surgery.

Sources:
http://the-sun.on.cc/cnt/news/20100612/00410_003.html