Blocking Sphenopalatine Ganglion by Intranasal Lidocaine Spray in Partial Turbinectomy Surgeries

Overview

Nasal turbinectomy surgeries are usually done as day case surgeries as most patients are young with unremarkable comorbidities. However, considerations are still present towards patients of old age or those suffering from obesity or obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Different techniques are still evolving to improve handling those patients to decrease complications, enhance recovery after surgery and increase patient satisfaction. Targeting sphenopalatine ganglion block by topical local anesthesia is a proposed technique that could help by decreasing peri-operative opioid consumption.

Patients undergoing turbinectomy usually suffer from chronic nasal congestion with wide spectrum of symptoms ranging from headache and breathing difficulty to sleep disorders and obstructive sleep apnea that could affect daily life . Usually the surgery is done as a day case surgery in patients without major comorbidities. Points of concern to achieve smooth outcome and enhance recovery include pain management, better surgical field for both patient and surgeon satisfaction. One approach for these goals include regional nerve blocks for the innervation of the nose . Spheno Palatine Ganglion (SPG) block was tested with a good results for blocking autonomic innervation and subsequent decrease in pain and opioid consumption. Blockage of SPG has many approaches either trans nasal or trans oral but both are invasive and needs trained hands to do Locally infiltrating lidocaine over nasal mucosa either by lidocaine spray or a lidocaine soaked gauze was also tested in nasal surgeries with good results but doubts about duration of action of lidocaine spray is a concern that may affect post-operative pain management Targeting SPG noninvasively by lidocaine spray is proposed technique that may offer easier approach for this type of surgeries. Although concerns about effectiveness of the spray to reach and block SPG was raised before , many studies examined this approach to control headache or trigeminal neuralgia with great success.