Measuring Nasal Airway Resistance to Personalize Surgery for Nasal Obstruction in OSA Patients

Objective: This study aimed to measure nasal airway resistance (NAR) in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients with nasal obstruction using active anterior rhinomanometry (AAR) and to evaluate whether NAR can predict the indication to include septoplasty as an additional procedure alongside drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) and inferior turbinoplasty. Methods: We performed a retrospective observational study in OSA patients with nasal obstruction. According to nasal endoscopy and CT findings, patients were planned for either DISE with inferior turbinoplasty alone or DISE with inferior turbinoplasty and septoplasty. All patients underwent preoperative AAR, carried out under baseline and post-decongestion conditions. To test the ability of NAR to predict septoplasty indication, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated for baseline and post-decongestion values. Logistic regression combined inspiratory/expiratory and unilateral/total NAR. The Area Under the Curve (AUC) was used to evaluate diagnostic accuracy, and optimal cut-offs were identified using Youden’s index (J). Results: Forty-eight patients were included. Baseline NAR showed low accuracy (median AUC: 0.540 unilateral, 0.562 total) and no valid cut-offs were identified (median J: 0.213 unilateral, 0.233 total). Post-decongestion NAR performed better (median AUC: 0.649 unilateral, 0.738 total). Inspiratory and expiratory unilateral values merged with binary regression improved prediction (AUC 0.677 and 0.709). The highest accuracy was achieved when all rhinomanometric parameters were integrated into one logistic model (AUC = 0.947). Conclusions: Preoperative AAR may help refine nasal surgical planning during DISE in OSAS patients, supporting a personalized approach and potentially reducing the need for staged nasal procedures.