Clinical study and literature review of nasal irrigation

Objectives/Hypothesis: Nasal disease, including chronic rhinosinusitis and allergic rhinitis, is a significant source of morbidity, Nasal irrigation h as been used as an adjunctive treatment of sinonasal disease. However, desp ite an abundance of anecdotal reports, there has been little statistical ev idence to support its efficacy. The objective of this study was to determin e the efficacy of the use of pulsatile hypertonic saline nasal irrigation i n the treatment of sinonasal disease. Study Design A prospective controlled clinical study. Methods: Two hundred eleven patients from the University o f California, San Diego (San Diego, CA) Nasal Dysfunction Clinic with sinon asal disease (including allergic rhinitis, aging rhinitis, atrophic rhiniti s, and postnasal drip) and 20 disease-free control subjects were enrolled. Patients irrigated their nasal cavities using hypertonic saline delivered b y a Water Pik device using a commercially available nasal adapter twice dai ly for 3 to 6 weeks. Patients rated nasal disease-specific symptoms and com pleted a self-administered quality of web-being questionnaire before interv ention and at follow-up, Results: Patients who used nasal irrigation for th e treatment of sinonasal disease experienced statistically significant impr ovements in 23 of the 30 nasal symptoms quelled, Improvement was also measu red in the global assessment of health status using the Quality of Well-Bei ng scale. Conclusions: Nasal irrigation is effective in improving symptoms and the health status of patients with sinonasal disease.