Nasopharyngeal Angiofibroma: Paradigm Shift in Management

To report on a series of patients of nasopharyngeal angiofibroma of varied ages with different stages and management algorithm which reduced morbidity associated with this tumour. Retrospective. We report a series of ten patients who presented to a tertiary care institution and were diagnosed to have NA from 2012 to 2014. Patients were categorized by Radkowski staging and data was collected to document differences in terms of presentation, operative technique, and postoperative course. All patients underwent preoperative embolization. Stage I and selected stage II lesions were approached endoscopically while the remainder underwent open resection. In comparison with open procedures, endoscopic procedures had less intraoperative blood loss (350 vs. 630 cc), operative time (90 vs. 150 min) and the average hospital stay was one day less (3 vs. 4 days). Proper preoperative work up including nonsurgical intervention in the form of embolisation and selecting proper surgical approach is rewarding in case of angiofibromas of all stages which help to reduce morbidity associated with these benign tumours.