A Novel Anterior Rhinoscopic Scoring Scale to Predict Nasal Insertability Before Transnasal Endoscopy

Summary

A sniff test for nasal patency is a common method before ultrathin transnasal esophago-gastro-duodenoscopy (UT-EGD) to select the right or left nostril for insertion, yet there is no objective method to select an appropriate meatus insertion site (MIS) where tolerance and epistaxis rate can be improved.

The investigators hypothesize that that an objective anterior rhinoscopy (to be more specific, the investigators term it "anterior meatoscopy") method might be more effective than the subjective breathing-in method (sniff test) to select the appropriate meatus insertion site, thus reducing nasal bleeding and nasal discomfort.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an endoscopic meatus scoring scale (EMSS) by anterior meatoscopy (AM) to select a MIS on patient tolerance and adverse events during nasal anesthesia and UT-EGD.

The investigators will perform a prospective randomized-controlled trial to compare patient tolerability and adverse events during nasal anesthesia and endoscopy between the AM-selected and self-selected MIS. A total of 233 consecutive patients with epigastric discomfort (symptoms of non-ulcer dyspepsia) will be included in the study in a large tertiary referral hospital in Taiwan.

Conditions

• Injury Due to Endoscopic Examination
• Transnasal Endoscopy Induced Epistaxis
• Transnasal Endoscopy Induced Nasal Pain

Interventions

PROCEDURE

anterior meatoscopy

The nasal vestibule is the most anterior part of the nasal cavity. It is lined by the same epithelium of the skin (stratified squamous epithelium) but not respiratory epithelium (pseudostratified columnar ciliated epithelium) so that an endoscope tip in this region would hardly causes trauma or bleeding. Before being inserted gently into the nasal vestibule for anterior rhinoscopy, the endoscope tip is applied with 2% lidocaine gel and then sprayed with 10% liquid lidocaine. This procedure can provide mild vestibular anesthesia which can prevent patients from sneezing when the vibrissae hair is irritated by the endoscope tip. Instead of holding the insertion tube as usual, an endoscopist holds the bending section for better control of the distal tip during anterior meatuscopy.

PROCEDURE

Nasal sniff test

All patients in the control group receive a sniff test in the left lateral decubitus (LLD) position directed and recorded by an assistant nurse. This test has been conducted for decades and is still used by many transnasal endoscopists, otolaryngologists, and pediatrics. In brief, the more patent nostril is selected by the patient inhaling through only one nostril with the other sealed by the examiner's index finger. Patients are asked to indicate which of their nostrils is most patent. If neither is more patent, the right nostril is chosen by default. The middle meatus is more difficult to examine and may be less well anesthetized than other structures. Thus, the inferior nasal meatus is selected for each case because the inferior meatus is usually the largest of the three nasal meatuses.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Chi-Tan Hu, MD, PhD · Budhist Tzu Chi Hospital and Tzu Chi University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2012-09-30

Primary Completion

2013-02-28

Completion

2013-02-28

Countries

• Taiwan

Study Locations