Empty Nose Syndrome Information & Research

Empty Nose Syndrome After Turbinate Surgery and Septoplasty: Priscilla Robert

Patient testimony · France

Priscilla Robert’s testimony describes repeated sinus problems followed by laser turbinate treatment, inferior turbinate removal and septoplasty, and then years of dryness, breathing discomfort, insomnia, pain and major loss of function.

Source context. This page is based on Priscilla’s published testimony and the supporting material retained with the original site. The first-person chronology is valuable, but broader claims in the source about medical-device companies, ENT practice, gas exchange or the frequency of severe outcomes are not treated here as established by this individual case.
Initial problemsRecurrent sinus infections, eye pain and asthma
First turbinate procedureLaser treatment in 2009
Later surgeryInferior turbinate removal with septoplasty
Later diagnosis reportedAtrophic rhinitis
Prominent later symptomsDryness, insomnia, hyperventilation and pain
DiedAugust 6, 2015

Why Priscilla’s testimony matters

The strongest part of this case is not a general claim that every turbinate procedure has the same risk. It is the detailed sequence Priscilla described: treatment for symptoms she hoped to improve, repeated intervention when the first procedure did not help, and then a new combination of persistent nasal and systemic complaints that reshaped daily life.

Her account also illustrates an issue that appears repeatedly in ENS discussions: conventional obstruction and the sensation of breathing are not always the same thing. Priscilla wrote that her nose could feel profoundly blocked and suffocating even after tissue had been reduced or removed.

2009: sinus infections, specialist referrals and laser turbinate treatment

Early 2009
Priscilla reported recurrent sinus infections while on sick leave. Because she was also experiencing severe eye pain, she was referred to an allergist and an ophthalmologist. During this period she also learned that she had asthma.
ENT evaluation
Her general practitioner referred her to an ENT specialist, who diagnosed enlarged or swollen turbinates. The first intervention recommended in her testimony was laser treatment intended to shrink turbinate tissue.
March
Priscilla underwent the laser procedure. She later wrote that it did not improve her breathing, and she returned to the ENT specialist around four weeks later because she remained symptomatic.

Inferior turbinate removal and septoplasty

According to Priscilla’s testimony, the next recommendation was removal of the lower turbinates together with septoplasty to correct the nasal septum. The operation took place in April and was followed by nasal packing.

After the packing was removed the next day, she experienced a small hemorrhage from the left nostril. She was reassured that breathing should now be easier, yet she reported the opposite: persistent obstruction, worsening nasal pain and headaches, frequent anxiety attacks and difficulty remaining upright because of the intensity of her symptoms.

This sequence is presented as Priscilla recorded it. It does not by itself determine which anatomical or physiological mechanism caused each later symptom.

Emergency care, second opinions and atrophic rhinitis

As her condition worsened, Priscilla sought emergency care. She wrote that the ENT specialist on duty did not accept a connection between her current symptoms and the recent operations. She then sought another opinion but said that physician was unwilling to become involved in another surgeon’s case.

Priscilla eventually travelled to Paris for another assessment. Her account states that a sleep study demonstrated poor sleep quality and snoring and that atrophic rhinitis was identified. These findings became part of the way she understood the progressive dryness, breathing discomfort and sleep disruption that followed.

The symptoms Priscilla described from 2011 onward

Priscilla’s later testimony portrays a dramatic reduction in everyday function. She wrote that she barely ate, could not sleep normally and had lost her sense of smell. Despite previous procedures intended to improve nasal airflow, she felt more obstructed than before surgery.

Breathing sensation
Persistent suffocation-like discomfort and a feeling that normal nasal breathing had been lost.
Dryness and burning
A continuously dry nose, with cold air causing intense burning.
Sleep
Severe insomnia and difficulty lying down because breathing felt intolerable.
Physical capacity
Marked limitation with exertion and difficulty sustaining ordinary daily activity.
Pain and pressure
Nasal pain and intense pressure extending toward the forehead.
Psychological burden
Exhaustion, isolation and depression in the setting of persistent physical symptoms.
Her testimony describes a life progressively narrowed by breathing discomfort, severe insomnia, pain, dryness and exhaustion.

Priscilla also described herself as living in constant hyperventilation. That is her report of the breathing pattern she experienced; this page does not infer blood-gas values or other physiological measurements that are not provided in the source.

Video testimony

The video retained from the original page combines background discussion about ENS with Priscilla Robert’s testimony.

Informed consent and the reason she shared her story

Priscilla wrote that she would not have agreed to the procedures had she understood the possibility of the long-term problems she later experienced. She found some support through a patient association and questioned why Empty Nose Syndrome remained unfamiliar to many clinicians and patients.

Her reason for publishing the testimony was preventive: she wanted prospective patients to understand that turbinate tissue has physiological functions and that irreversible tissue removal deserves careful discussion before surgery. That message can be preserved without presenting her individual outcome as inevitable for everyone undergoing turbinate treatment.

Priscilla died on August 6, 2015. The source places her story among severe ENS experiences in which postoperative suffering became overwhelming. This revised page keeps the focus on her documented testimony and avoids sensational framing.

Original testimony and documentation

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