Popular Therapy for Chronic Sinus Issues Found Less Effective

Swift Summary

• Chronic sinusitis affects about 9% of people globally, causing persistent blocked or runny noses, reduced sense of smell, and facial pain.
• Anti-inflammatory nasal sprays and saline rinses are the first-line treatments. If ineffective,a three-month course of antibiotics (clarithromycin) is usually prescribed.
• Surgery to widen sinuses and remove polyps is a last resort in severe cases.
• A study involving over 500 participants compared surgery, clarithromycin treatment, and placebo pills alongside nasal sprays and rinses.

– Antibiotics showed no critically important betterment over the placebo group (~10-point symptom reduction on average). Improvement was attributed to nasal sprays/rinsing.
– Surgery led to a ~30-point symptom improvement on average, making it substantially more effective.

• However, 80% of participants had nasal polyps-possibly influenced by COVID-19-related inflammation-raising questions about generalizing results to those without polyps.