Budesonide vs Saline Nasal Irrigation in Allergic Rhinitis: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial

Budesonide nasal irrigation is currently widely used in the treatment of chronic sinusitis typically following endoscopic sinus surgery to improve inflammatory control. Its application in treatment of allergic rhinitis has not been previously studied. This study assesses the subjective and clinical response to budesonide buffered hypertonic saline nasal irrigation and hypertonic saline nasal irrigation in patients with allergic rhinitis.

This is a prospective, single-center, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial.

Tertiary care hospital.

Fifty-two patients diagnosed with allergic rhinitis were randomized into 2 groups to receive either buffered hypertonic saline nasal irrigation with a placebo respule or buffered hypertonic saline nasal irrigation with a budesonide respule. Patients were assessed at baseline and 4 weeks subjectively using the Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22 (SNOT-22) questionnaire and visual analog scale (VAS). Clinical assessment was done using the modified Lund-Kennedy score.

The average SNOT-22, VAS, and modified Lund-Kennedy scores improved in both groups (P < .001). The budesonide irrigation group was found to have significantly better improvement than the saline nasal irrigation group with the SNOT-22 scores (P = .012) and VAS scores (P = .007). However, the difference in the clinical response between the 2 groups was not significant (P = .268).

This study adds evidence to the use of saline nasal irrigation in allergic rhinitis but also demonstrates efficacy of the addition of budesonide to irrigations. Budesonide nasal irrigation thus appears to be a viable treatment option for allergic rhinitis.