Assessment of Nasal Congestion during Pregnancy by Acoustic Rhinometry
Girapong Ungkhara MD1, Thanitha Borwornparus MD2
Affiliation : 1 Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital, Navamindhradhiraj University, Bangkok, Thailand 2 Institute of Otolaryngology, Rajavithi General Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand
Objective : To study data and characteristics of nasal congestion relating to pregnancy in each trimester.
Materials and Methods : Prospective cross sectional study was conducted. The authors study pregnant and non-pregnant
women at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine Vajra Hospital Navamindharadhiraj University.
The authors use visual analog score [VAS] score and nasal obstructive score to adjust subjective symptom of nasal obstruction
and using acoustic rhinometry for study objective nasal patency in pregnant and non-pregnant women.
Results : There were 109 pregnant women, first trimester 20 patients, second trimester 26 patients and third trimester 63
patients and non-pregnant women as the control group 40 women. The mean age in pregnant women is 28, 28 and 26 and in
non-pregnant woman is 23 years old. Cross sectional area 1 [CSA1] significant increase in 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimester (p-value
0.001, 0.001 and 0.000) when compare with non-pregnant women. There was no changing in obstructive nasal symptoms
score and total visual analog score [VAS] score in both groups. The average woman’s pregnancy CSA1 of 1st trimester is 0.92
(range 0.14 to 1.91), CSA1 of 2nd trimester is 0.89 (0.23 to 2.25) and CSA1 of 3rd trimester is 1.0 (0.20 to 2.56).
The nasal obstructive symptom scores were 2.20 (range, 0 to 5 points) in the first trimester, averaging 1.23 in the
second trimester and average 1.39 in the third trimester. VAS value of the 3 trimesters of pregnancy found that the p-value of
a stuffy nose. (Obstruction) of 0.137 shows that no differences are statistically significant and the average VAS total was
6.05, 5.35 and 5.53 for women 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimester, respectively.
Conclusion : The authors found that the symptoms of nasal congestion decrease from the 1st trimester. In the 2nd and 3rd
trimester of pregnancy the nasal congestion reduces. The causes of decreased nasal congestion during pregnancy are currently
unknown.
Keywords : Nasal Congestion, Pregnancy, Acoustic rhinometry
