Nasal irrigation treatment for gestational rhinitis: a pilot study / 中国耳鼻咽喉头颈外科

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE Gestational rhinitis(GR) is a relatively common condition in women during pregnancy.Patients with GR often complain of nasal obstruction and rhinorrhea.The exact mechanism of GR are not clear.Safe and effective treatments for this disease have not been found to date.The aim of this study is to find an appropriate treatment method for GR.METHODS Thirty patients with GR were randomly divided into two groups.There were 15 patients in hypertonic saline group with a mean age of 28.73 years (range 24-31 years),and 15 patients in normal saline group with a mean age of 25.93 years (range 24-31 years).Hypertonic saline group was treated using 3.0％ saline with a temperature of 40℃ nasal irrigation,and normal saline group was treated with 0.9％ saline with a temperature of 40℃ nasal irrigation.The duration of the intervention period was 4 weeks.Visual Analog Scale(VAS) was used to evaluate the nasal symptoms including nasal obstruction and rhinorrhea,and the health-related quality of life was assessed with the 12-item Short Form Health Survey version 2.0(SF-12v2).Contents of histamine(HIS) and acetylcholinesterase(ACHE) in nasal lavage fluid(NLF) was assessed before and after 4-week treatment in the two groups in the study.RESULTS There were 28 patients completed the study.The total VAS scores of nasal symptoms including nasal obstruction and rhinorrhea decreased,and SF-12v2 score increased in the hypertonic saline group after 2-week,3-week and 4-week interventions.Furthermore,ACHE in NLF was also increased after 4-week treatment,but HIS showed no statistical changes.The VAS scores of nasal obstruction and rhinorrhea and SF-12v2 score after 2-week,3-week and 4-week interventions,and the contents of HIS and ACHE in NLF after 4-week treatment showed no statistical differences in the normal saline nasal irrigation group.There were statistical differences in the VAS scores of nasal obstruction and rhinorrhea,SF-12v2 score and ACHE in NLF after 4-week treatment,and no significant differences in the content of HIS in NLF between the 2 groups.CONCLUSION Hypertonic saline nasal irrigation is a safe and effective treatment for GR.