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Laser-Doppler blood flowmetry measurement of nasal mucosa blood flow after injection of the greater palatine canal
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 June 2007
Abstract
Laser-Doppler blood flowmetry was used to measure the mucosal blood flow of the inferior turbinate before and after injection of the greater palatine canal with 2 ml of a 0.5 per cent bupivicaine hydrochloride solution. Injection of the greater palatine canal is a useful technique in the control of posterior epistaxis. The arterial blood supply to the inferior turbinate is via a single descending branch of the sphenopalatine artery. We conjectured that injection of the pterygopalatine fossa, via the greater palatine canal, would result in a reduction of blood flow to the inferior turbinate. In this study injection of the pterygopalatine fossa caused only a 4.7 per cent decrease in blood flow to the inferior turbinate mucosa (p 0.571). Elevation of the head by an angle of 20 degrees reduced nasal mucosal blood flow by 38.3 per cent (p<0.0001). Depression of the head by an angle of 20 degrees increased nasal mucosal blood flow by 74.7 per cent (p<0.0001). We conclude that there is an adequate collateral blood circulation to the anterior portion of the inferior turbinate.
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