Saline irrigations following sinus surgery - a controlled, single blinded, randomized trial

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a common health problem. If medical treatment fails, endonasal sinus surgery is a valuable treatment option. A thorough postsurgical treatment is needed including, among others, nasal saline irrigations (NSI). In this prospective, controlled, single blinded, randomized trial, we aimed to evaluate efficacy of nasal saline irrigations following endonasal sinus surgery in CRS-patients with nasal polyps.

We examined patient's nasal symptoms, general quality of life and postoperative condition of the mucosa. We also investigated whether or not NSI reduced the number of missed workdays after surgery (MWD). Patients were randomized into an irrigation and non-irrigation arm.

Following treatment, mean nasal sum-score in the irrigation arm was 4.4 and in the non-irrigation arm it was 6.3. Accordingly, mean general sum-score in the irrigation arm was 2.5 and in the non-irrigation arm 4.8. Thus, nasal irrigation led to a more pronounced improvement of nasal and general symptoms than in the non-irrigation arm. No differences were observed in postoperative condition of mucosa or number of MWD.

Nasal irrigation improves symptoms score after ESS in patients with CRSwNP.