Nasal obstruction in infants not only limits their respiration, but also disturbs their sleep and suckling. We investigated the noses, nasal debris, nasal discharge and opening of the choanae in infants with nasal obstruction. One hundred twenty eight infants from seven days to five months old were observed by rhinoscopy and fiberscopy.
Twenty-three infants presented with heavy debris, thirty-six with mild debris, fifty-eight with light debris and eleven presented with no debris. Eight infants presented with heavy rhinorrhea, thirty-nine with mild rhinorrhea, seventy-one with light rhinorrhea and ten with no rhinorrhea. Eight infants had massive choanal drip, forty had mild drip, sixty-eight had light drip and twelve had no choanal drip.
Five infants presented with very narrow choanae, thirty-nine with mild-narrowed choanae, sixty-four with light-narrowed choanae and twenty had fully-opened choanae. No obstructions caused by a deviation of the septum, hypertrophied conchae or polyps were observed.
These observations suggest that nasal obstruction in infants was caused by under-developed choanae, and by mucostasis of the rhinorrhea in narrowed nasal cavities.