title: Septal injection in comparison with inferior turbinates injection of botulinum toxin A in patients with allergic rhinitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Botulinum toxin A (BTA) is a promising therapeutic option in the treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR). Although recent studies have introduced BTA septal injection as an alternative method, the conventional localization for the injection of BTA in patients with AR is still the nasal turbinates. This study was designed to compare the effectiveness and safety of septal BTA injection with turbinal BTA injection in patients with AR.
  
  
  METHODS
  This open-label study was performed on 50 patients with AR who were randomly allocated to septal and turbinal BTA injection groups. All patients received an injection of 40 U of BTA (Dysport(®), Ipsen Ltd, Maidenhead, UK) in each side of the nose and were followed for 8 weeks. Prior to the intervention and 8 weeks later, symptom severity and quality of life scores were calculated using the AR symptom severity and Rhinasthma questionnaires respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Comparison of pre- and post-treatment symptom severity scores within each group showed a significant reduction of total symptom severity score and severity of sneezing, rhinorrhea, and congestion in both groups (P < 0.05). However, post-treatment symptom severity scores were not significantly different between two groups (P > 0.05). Both methods have improved the quality of life of subjects significantly (P < 0.05). Significantly more patients in the turbinal injection group reported adverse effects (four patient's vs. one, P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although both septal and turbinal BTA injections are effective on patients with AR, septal administration of BTA could be safer and easier method. However, further investigations are required to achieve more accurate results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan.
authors.forename: Sayed Mojtaba
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Abtahi
authors.forename: Sayed Mostafa
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hashemi
authors.forename: Sayed Hamidreza
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Abtahi
authors.forename: Bagher
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bastani
keywords: Allergic rhinitis; botulinum toxin A; quality of life