SUMMARY
Background: Hookah is a tobacco product of Middle Eastern
origin; however, its popularity increases in Europe and the US. Despite
its frequent use, hookah’s potentially detrimental effects are
underestimated due to the scarcity of the relevant research. Since
septoplasty is one of the most commonly performed procedures of
otolaryngology practice, we aimed to investigate the impact of hookah
consumption on recovery after septoplasty.
Methods: Patients who underwent septoplasty in Sanliurfa
Training and Research Hospital Department of Otolaryngology between
January 2017 and December 2019 were divided into four groups based on
their history of hookah and cigarette smoking. The patients’
prospectively collected data, including demographic features, healing
time, and presence or absence of septal perforation during follow-up,
were compared between these four groups.
Results: The entire cohort included 270 patients. The mean
patient age was 29.2±5.8 years. One hundred and thirty-two (48.9%)
patients were non-smokers, 96 (35.5%) were cigarette smokers, 27 (10%)
were hookah smokers, and 15 (5.6%) consumed both tobacco products
regularly. Mean healing time was 10 days, and septal perforation was
encountered in 10 patients (3.7%). A comparison of the groups revealed
that cigarette smoking did not impact septal perforation rates (p=0.326)
but prolonged the healing time. However, hookah smoking with or without
cigarette smoking significantly influenced septal perforation rates and
healing times.
Conclusion: Patients should be questioned about hookah smoking
in addition to cigarette smoking before the septoplasty procedure.
Patients with a positive history of hookah smoking should be followed
closely in terms of delayed healing and increased septal perforation
rates.