[Intranasal laser coagulation in the therapy of vasomotor rhinitis in elderly patients].

Laser coagulation of concha nasalis inferior is essentially atraumatic, bloodless, sterile and causes no edema. The specific effect of a laser beam on microcirculation suggests that laser surgery can be viewed as a pathogenetic method of therapy of vasomotor rhinitis. Laser coagulation of concha nasalis inferior was performed in 74 patients, 42 of which were older than 50 years. The elderly patients suffered from other diseases, e.g. ischemic heart disease or cardiopulmonary pathology, which excluded contact surgery intervention. Laser therapy was well tolerated by all the patients. Good results were recorded in 80% of patients without concomitant sinusitis and in 66.6% of patients with concomitant sinusitis.