page_title: Empty nose syndrome
section_title: Cause
hierarchical_section_title: Empty nose syndrome / Cause
caption_attribution_description: English: Squamous metaplasia of pseudostratified respiratory epithelium of the nose
context_page_description: Empty nose syndrome, one form of secondary atrophic rhinitis, is a clinical syndrome in which people who have clear nasal passages experience a range of symptoms, most commonly feelings of nasal obstruction, nasal dryness and crusting, and a sensation of being unable to breathe.
  ENS can be caused by minor surgical procedure as well as by major nasal surgical procedure:
  major procedures: turbinate surgery for removal or reduction or modification of turbinates
  minor procedures: submucosal cautery, submucosal resection, laser therapy, and cryosurgery.
  The condition appears to be caused by medical interventions; but its existence as a medical condition, cause, diagnosis and management are controversial.
  All aspects have been subject to debate, including whether it should be considered solely rhinologic, or may have neurological or psychosomatic aspects.
context_section_description: The cause may be changes to the nasal mucous membrane and to the nerve endings in the mucosa resulting from chronic changes to the temperature and humidity of the air flowing inside the nose, caused in turn by removal or reduction of the turbinates.  Direct damage to the nerves may be a result of surgical intervention; however, as of 2015, there is no technology that allows the mapping of the sensory nerves within the nose, so it is difficult to determine whether this is causative of ENS. Investigators have been unable to identify consistent diagnostic or precipitating features, psychological causes leading to a psychosomatic condition have been proposed.
caption: Squamous metaplasia of nasal respiratory epithelium.
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