Septal Perforation

A septal perforation is a hole in the nasal septum (the divider between the left and right sides of the nose). A septal perforation can cause frequent crusting, bleeding, sinusitis, whistling while breathing, and nasal obstruction. Trauma, drug abuse, and chronic nasal sprays use are frequent causes of septal perforations. Infrequently, a septal perforation may indicate the prescence of an inflammatory, infectious or neoplastic disease. These include Wegner’s granulomatosis, tuberculosis, syphillis, carcinoma or lymphoma. Several techniques are available for surgical closure of septal perforations for symptomatic patients.