Nasal irrigation using saline at room temperature or body temperature: which is more beneficial in chronic rhinosinusitis?

Authors

  • Subrat K. Behera Department of ENT and HNS, SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, Odisha, India
  • Sruthi Thattamparambil Radhakrishnan Department of ENT and HNS, SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, Odisha, India
  • Smruti Swain Department of ENT and HNS, SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, Odisha, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/issn.2454-5929.ijohns20192720

Keywords:

Nasal irrigation, Temperature, Chronic rhinosinusitis, Saccharine transit time

Abstract

Background: Mucociliary clearance in nasal mucosa shows changes with temperature. In cold climate, it is expected to decrease, thus contributing to exacerbation of rhinosinusitis symptoms. If we raise the temperature of saline used for nasal irrigation to the normal body temperature, can it overcome this problem in cold climate? This study aims to examine whether irrigation using saline that is heated to 37°C has any superiority compared to irrigation using saline at 180C in rhino sinusitis treatment.

Methods: Prospective double blind study done in a tertiary care centre from November 2017 to March 2018. 32 patients of chronic rhinosinusitis were divided into 2 groups. Group A received saline nasal irrigation using saline at 18oc and Group B received irrigation with saline at 37oc for 2 weeks. Saccharine transit time and sino nasal outcome test (SNOT-22) scores were calculated before and after treatment in both groups and the results compared.  

Results: Saccharine transit time improved from mean pretreatment value of 12.4±5.52 minutes to 9.1±6.3 minutes in Group A and from 12.82±6.3 to 8.5±6.45 in Group B (p=0.0212). Mean SNOT-22 score decreased from 58.8±5.6 to 41.4±4.8 in Group A and from 57.5±4.2 to 37.9±5.1 in Group B after treatment (p<0.05).

Conclusions: Nasal irrigation using saline at 370C is more effective than saline at 18°C in increasing mucociliary clearance and improving symptoms in chronic rhinosinusitis patients.

Author Biographies

Subrat K. Behera, Department of ENT and HNS, SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, Odisha, India

Professor  &  HOD,  department  of  ENT  &  HNS

Sruthi Thattamparambil Radhakrishnan, Department of ENT and HNS, SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, Odisha, India

Junior resident

Department of ENT & HNS

Smruti Swain, Department of ENT and HNS, SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, Odisha, India

Assosiate  professor,  department  of  ENT  &  HNS

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Published

2019-06-27

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Original Research Articles