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Rhinolith: A Forgotten Identity-Series of 18 Cases with Review of Literature

Segana Hasan Abdul Cader, SKG Reghunandanan Nair and Fahim Ahmed Shah

Introduction: Rhinolith or nasal stone is formed by mineralization within nasal cavity. Though stones are infrequently seen in nasal cavity, our experience of frequent encounter with this clinical entity prompted us to write up on this rather forgotten entity and its clinical concern. The salient features of these Rhinoliths and their relevance to clinical practice are discussed and a series of cases with their way of presentation, different varieties and diagnostic dilemmas are discussed in this article so as to unable the attending clinician to be aware of this still prevailing condition and to promote to have a high index of suspicion.

Materials and methods: In this article, we present eighteen cases of rhinoliths who were admitted between January 2001 and December 2015 with unilateral malodorous foetid nasal discharge, nasal obstruction, epistaxis and cacosmia.

Results: Females were more frequently affected than Males in our study 55% of females and 44.4% were males. 14 patients (78%) had rhinoliths lodged in the posterior part of nasal cavity while only 4 (22%) patients had rhinoliths in the anterior part of nasal cavity. Majority of the rhinoliths were located in the left side (N=12, 67%) and remaining were situated in the right nasal cavity. Most of the patients presented with Malodorous foetid rhinorrhea (n=14) and headache or facial pressure symptoms or pain (n=13), around 10 patients had a history of epistaxis or blood stained nasal discharge.

Conclusion: Rhinoliths mostly manifest itself with unilateral purulent blood stained rhinorrhea, nasal block and facial pain symptoms, we aim to discuss these entity with similar cases in literature.