PHARMACOLOGICAL BACKGROUND TO DECONGESTING AND ANTIINFLAMMATORY TREATMENT OF RHINITIS AND SINUSITIS

A review is given of the literature concerning effects of oral and top ical decongestants and anti-inflammatory drugs in rhinitis and sinusit is. Oral vasoconstrictors, effective in decongesting the nasal mucosa, need to be taken in doses that may induce disturbing systemic side-ef fects. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have weak effects in allergic rhinitis as compared with glucocorticosteroids. No contro lled clinical trials of systemic glucocorticosteroids in sinusitis hav e been published. Four studies in which different glucocorticosteroids were administered topically for sinusitis have been performed, but th ese gave very weak support for any positive effects of such a treatmen t.