Manipulation under anaesthesia of fractured nasal bones - a 10-year retrospective study.

BACKGROUND

Nasal bone fractures are treated by manipulation under general or local anaesthesia procedures. Data on long-term benefits of manipulation under local anaesthesia are limited. This study aimed to quantify the proportion of patients requiring septoplasty or septorhinoplasty after manipulation under general and local anaesthesia procedures.

METHODS

Anonymised data were collected from electronic records of all patients who underwent manipulation under anaesthesia at our centre over a 10-year period, including demographics, manipulation under anaesthesia timing and further surgery requirements.

RESULTS

The study identified 625 manipulation under general anaesthesia and 52 manipulation under local anaesthesia procedures. Manipulation under local anaesthesia procedures were performed earlier (local anaesthesia = 9 days, general anaesthesia = 15 days; p < 0.05) and were more likely to achieve manipulation (local anaesthesia = 83 per cent, general anaesthesia = 76 per cent; p < 0.05). There was no difference between techniques in the percentage of patients requiring further surgery.

CONCLUSION

This paper describes a large cohort of patients who underwent manipulation under anaesthesia over a 10-year period. Manipulation under local anaesthesia procedures have increased since the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, and the results are comparable to manipulation under general anaesthesia, with reduced delays between injury and manipulation.