title: Effects of nasal saline lavage on pediatric sinusitis symptoms and disease-specific quality of life: a case series of 10 patients.
abstract: We conducted a prospective study to assess (1) the effects of daily nasal irrigation in children with chronic sinonasal symptoms and (2) the impact that treatment had on disease-specific quality of life as assessed by a validated instrument, the five-item Sinus and Nasal Quality of Life Survey (SN-5), and by an overall nasal quality-of-life (NQL) score based on a 10-point faces scale. Our patient population was made up of 10 children-7 girls and 3 boys, aged 3 to 9 years (mean: 6.1)-who had presented with symptoms of chronic rhinosinusitis for more than 3 months and who had not responded to previous medical management. Patients were administered nasal saline lavage daily for 1 month. These patients and/or their caregivers completed an SN-5 questionnaire upon entry into the study and at the completion of treatment. At study's end, a comparison of pre- and post-treatment scores with paired Student t tests showed that the mean total SN-5 score improved significantly over baseline, falling 45% from 21.4 to 11.7 (p = 0.0002). Moreover, significant overall improvement was seen in each of the five subcategories of the SN-5 survey (p = 0.0009 to 0.038). The NQL scores also improved significantly from 4.7 to 7.7 (p = 0.0034). Compliance with nasal lavage was generally good among the 10 patients, as 8 of them used at least 75% of the recommended quantity of saline at least once a day. During a follow-up period that ranged from 2 to 23 months (mean: 10.4), only 1 patient required an adenoidectomy for symptom control. The results of this pilot study suggest that nasal saline lavage may significantly alleviate chronic sinonasal symptoms and improve disease-specific quality of life in children with symptoms of chronic rhinosinusitis.
authors: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 601 N. Caroline St., #6254, Baltimore, MD 21287. Slin30@jhmi.edu.
authors: Sandra Y
authors: SY
authors: Lin
authors: Katherine M
authors: KM
authors: Baugher
authors: David J
authors: DJ
authors: Brown
authors: Stacey L
authors: SL
authors: Ishman
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055556:Nasal Lavage; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012852:Sinusitis / Q000628:therapy*; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D012965:Sodium Chloride