ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of nasal irrigation with sodium hyaluronate and surfactant solutions on mucociliary clearance time in patients with mild persistent allergic rhinitis. METHODS: A total of 120 patients diagnosed with mild persistent allergic rhinitis were enrolled in this prospective study. The patients were allocated randomly to the surfactant, sodium hyaluronate or isotonic saline (as a control) nasal irrigation group. The mucociliary clearance times and improvements in mucociliary clearance times were compared. RESULTS: Improvements in mean mucociliary clearance time were significantly greater in the surfactant and sodium hyaluronate groups than in the control group (p < 0.01). The mean post-treatment mucociliary clearance time of the surfactant group was significantly lower than that of the control (p < 0.001) and sodium hyaluronate groups (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Surfactant and sodium hyaluronate nasal irrigation solutions may both be used as adjunctive treatments for allergic rhinitis. Surfactant nasal irrigation resulted in better mucociliary clearance times.
