Ask Karen: New allergy procedure not a cure all for sufferers

Karen McNew
10 On Your Side
Published: June 11, 2008

QUESTION:  I was watching the 12 o’clock news and caught the end of the story about a new procedure for allergy sufferers.  Can you tell me the name of that procedure and where it can be done locally?
A NSWER: The story that aired on WSLS at Noon featured a procedure called turbinate coblation.  The procedure uses radio waves to remove and shrink tissue in blocked nasal passages.  While the allergy sufferer in that story referenced the fact that she did not need medicine after the procedure, it is important to note that Coblation does not cure allergies.

“You are still going to have the allergies.  It affects breathing through the nose,” says Jefferson Surgical Center’s Ear Nose and Throat Specialist, Dr. Geoffrey Harter.

Dr. Harter says he typically uses coblation to take out tonsils and that if a person had to get allergy shots before, they are still going to need them after a procedure like this.  But, he says it can help people breath better.

I checked with Carilion Clinic Otolaryngology and found they do not offer turbinate coblation, but they offer alternate treatments to relieve allergy symptoms and enlarge nasal passages.

Carilion Clinic’s Dr. William Dichtel says, “The procedure we use most frequently is like a tiny liposuction…it just pulls tissue in and cuts some of the tissue.” 
Dr. Dichtel says microdebridement for reduction of turbinates, the procedure they use, is much more effective at opening the nose than any of the other techniques including coblation. 

He describes a turbinate as something similar to a radiator that bulges out from the side wall of the nose.  Turbinates warm the air and humidify the air before it goes down into the lungs.