ABSTRACT
The objective of this study was to compare the effect of nasal wash with hypertonic saline [HS] [3.5%] versus normal saline [NS] [0.9%] on CS. Thirty patients with chronic sinusitis [CS] aged 3-16 years were studied. They were randomly divided into two treatment groups matched in age and severity of the disease. Each individual was treated with either HS or NS for four weeks. All patients were evaluated by two clinical scores [cough and nasal secretions/postnasal drip, PND] and by a radiology score at the beginning of the study and after four weeks. The results showed that the HS group was significantly improved in all scores [average +/- SD], e.g. cough score from 3.6 +/- 0.51 to 1.6 +/- 0.74, nasal secretion/PND score from 2.86 +/- 0.35 to 1.6 +/- 0.74 and radiology score from 8.06 +/- 1.28 to 2.66 +/- 1.04. The NS treatment group showed a significant improvement only in the PND score [from 2.66 +/- 0.49 to 1.53 +/- 0.83], but no significant change was reported in both cough score [from 3.53 +/- 0.52 to 3.33 +/- 0.49] and the radiology score [from 8.13 +/- 1.25 to 7.86 +/- 0.91]. It was concluded that HS nasal wash is an efficient treatment of CS