Nasal Irrigation: An Imprecisely Defined Medical Procedure

Area of Science:

• Otolaryngology
• Respiratory Medicine
• Integrative Medicine

Background:

• Nasal irrigation (NI) is an ancient Ayurvedic practice for upper respiratory care.
• It's widely used for chronic rhinosinusitis, allergic rhinitis, and preventing infections, especially in children.
• Despite common use, NI is often omitted or minimally addressed in clinical guidelines for upper respiratory diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review current knowledge on nasal irrigation.
• To discuss the clinical relevance and evidence supporting NI.
• To guide physicians on the potential use of this intervention.

Main Methods:

• Literature analysis of existing studies on nasal irrigation.
• Evaluation of the effectiveness and methodological quality of NI research.
• Identification of research gaps and future directions.

Main Results:

• Nasal irrigation appears effective for acute and chronic sinonasal conditions.
• Most existing studies on NI suffer from significant methodological limitations.
• There is a need for high-quality, multicenter studies to establish definitive evidence.

Conclusions:

• NI shows promise for treating sinonasal issues, but robust evidence is lacking due to study limitations.
• Standardization of NI methods (solutions, devices, duration) is essential.
• Further large-scale, multicenter research is urgently needed, particularly for pediatric applications.