Background and aim Nasal obstruction has long been related to middle ear (ME) illnesses. Nasal obstruction changes the function of the Eustachian tube and may affect ME pressure. This study aimed to assess the ME function in cases with bilateral complete nasal obstruction not improved with medication. Patients and methods A prospective observational study was conducted among 60 ears of 30 patients with complete bilateral nasal obstruction not improved by medication. The cases were surgically operated on for correction of their nasal occlusion and assessment of ME function before and after 1 and 3 months of operation. The assessment included a tympanogram and audiogram. Results An improvement was found in most cases after three months postoperative, which observed tympanogram type A was observed on Rt and Lt ear (90 and 93.3%) in comparison to tympanogram preoperative, which was type C on Rt and Lt ear (46.7 and 43.3%). Also, assessment of audiogram on Rt ear showed that 90% of cases had normal hearing, and 93.3% of cases showed normal hearing on Lt ear after 3 month postoperative in comparison to assessment of audiogram on Rt and Lt ears showing mid and moderate conductive hearing loss (CHL) about (80, 76.67%), respectively. Conclusion Our outcomes demonstrated that bilateral chronic nasal occlusion is a common reason that has a strong association with Eustachian tube dysfunction, and nasal occlusion operations significantly enhance Eustachian tube function and ME pressure.
Bahrawy et al. (Thu,) studied this question.