Effect of sodium hyaluronate on the quality of life of patients undergoing sinus surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis

Impact of intranasal sodium hyaluronate on the short-term quality of life of patients undergoing functional endoscopic sinus surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis

Article specifications

This double-blind randomized controlled study was published in 2014 in Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. (IF 2016:1.955) by Italian specialist. This study aimed to evaluate for the first time the effectiveness of nasal douche with SH in reducing patients’ discomfort during the first month following Functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). study was carried out on 124 subjects (70 males, 54 females, mean age 41.2 years) undergoing FESS for chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) with nasal polyposis. They were divided into 2 groups: group I was treated with nasal douche containing 9 mg of high molecular weight SH plus saline solution and group II was treated with saline solution alone. To assess quality of life (QoL) in CRS patients, the Short Form-36 (SF-36) test, the Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22 (SNOT-22), and the visual analogue scale (VAS) questionnaires were administered.

 

Results

At baseline, there were no statistically significant differences between the 2 groups. However, after 30 days of long postoperative treatments, we found clinically significant improvements in QoL of subjects treated with SH, as evidenced by all QoL scales. Our data indicate that SH significantly improves patients' short-term QoL following FESS in terms of both general health and specific sinonasal status.