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M-S. Yılmaz Topçuoğlu - P.J. Schuler - J.H. Westhoff - O. Sommerburg - L. Wucherpfennig - I. Baumann

DOI: 10.4193/Rhin25.318

BACKGROUND: There is often a discrepancy between official recommendations and actual clinical practice on repair of congenital choanal atresia (CA). The objective of this study was to evaluate the current state of care for CA patients in Germany.
METHODS: An online survey was conducted in which 108 German ENT departments were consulted on various aspects of CA management, including preoperative diagnosis, surgical procedures, and postoperative care.RESULTS: 65% of the ENT departments only perform CA repairs at over 3 years of age. Flexible nasal endoscopy (69%), hearing tests (41%), and computed tomography (52%) were preoperative diagnosis tools. Posterior vomer was resected in 56% of the ENT departments. Scar- (60%), granulation tissue (38%), and insufficient vomer resections (21%) caused recurrences. Stents were used by 38%. CONCLUSIONS: Elective unilateral CA repair should be performed in time to minimise symptoms. Preoperative hearing tests should be introduced as routine to identify CA patients with hearing problems. The utilisation of preoperative computed tomography should be discussed individually. Only just over half of the participating ENT departments resected posterior vomer parts. This is a significant starting point with the potential to improve the recurrence rates of this patient cohort. Stent use is still quite common iin Germany. This should be changed in the future.

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