H. Hallen et P. Graf, BENZALKONIUM CHLORIDE IN NASAL DECONGESTIVE SPRAYS HAS A LONG-LASTINGADVERSE EFFECT ON THE NASAL-MUCOSA OF HEALTHY-VOLUNTEERS, Clinical and experimental allergy, 25(5), 1995, pp. 401-405
Twenty healthy volunteers participated in the present study on the lon
g-term effects of a nasal decongestive spray composed of either a comb
ination of oxymetazoline nasal spray and benzalkonium chloride or of o
xymetazoline nasal spray alone. Three months before the present study
the participants had undergone treatment with nasal decongestants for
4 weeks. Ten of the subjects had been treated with oxymetazoline nasal
spray without bezalkonium chloride and 10 of them had been treated wi
th oxymetazoline nasal spray with benzalkonium chloride. In a double-b
lind study the subjects who had been treated with oxymetazoline nasal
spray and benzalkonium chloride were again treated with the same combi
nation of substances as before, and the subjects who had been treated
with oxymetazoline nasal spray alone were also treated again with oxym
etazoline nasal spray alone, but on this occasion only for 10 days. Th
ree variables were studied before and after the 10 days of treatment,
i.e. nasal mucosa congestion, nasal reactivity and symptom scores. It
was found that only the subjects who were treated with the combination
of oxymetazoline nasal spray and benzalkonium chloride had increased
nasal stuffiness, estimated by symptom scores and measurements of nasa
l mucosa swelling after 10 days of treatment. It is concluded that a n
asal decongestant spray composed of a combination of vasoactive substa
nce and benzalkonium chloride has a long-term adverse effect on the na
sal mucosa.