Safety of intranasal corticosteroids

Concurrent use of intranasal corticosteroids (INCSs) and inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) is indicated for patients who are comorbid for asthma and allergic rhinitis. Clinicians need to know the data regarding INCS safety for their patients with asthma.

To discuss INCS safety data for the use of INCSs in patients with asthma and allergic rhinitis.

INCS safety studies were selected for their relevance to the discussion.

To date, most studies regarding INCS safety are performed in patients with allergic rhinitis. These studies reveal no evidence of increased risk of nasal atrophy, and only isolated cases of septal perforation have been reported. Evidence of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis suppression is inconsistent and not clinically significant. Early growth studies indicated that beclomethasone dipropionate but not other INCSs have systemic effects on growth; however, newer, larger, and better designed studies are detecting small but significant growth effects in other INCSs. INCSs do not increase the risk of cataracts or glaucoma, although there are anecdotal data on transient elevated intraocular pressure. Data on concurrent use of INCSs and ICSs are limited, but these limited data reveal no evidence of systemic effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.

More studies of concurrent therapy are needed because concurrent use of ICSs and INCSs is common in practice. Clinicians might want to consider monitoring whether there are risk factors, such as a family history of glaucoma.