The nasal congestion relevance and a novel suggestion to prevent and treat it

BACKGROUND. Nasal congestion is a common symptom in allergic and non-allergic rhinitis, rhinosinusitis and nasal polyps. Although several options exist, no drug is overall efficacious. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of a medical device, containing dipotasssium glycyrrhizinate, which is an osmotically acting substance with anti-edema and anti-inflammation effects specifically against the pro-inflammatory High Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1) protein. MATERIAL AND METHODS. A multicenter prospective study with a pre-post design has been performed in 8 Italian ENT Departments, consecutively enrolling 161 both genders patients affected by persistent nasal congestion. Patients received 2 puff of dipotassium glycyrrhizinate into each nostril two times a day over the course of four weeks. The severity of symptoms was assessed subjectively, as measured by a 0 to 5 visual analog scale (VAS), and objectively through endoscopic assessment, active anterior rhinomanometry (AAR), and by mean of the evaluation of mucociliary transport times (MCTt). Differences in subjective and objective severity measures before and after treatment were compared using Paired-Sample Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. RESULTS. All evaluated symptoms and all objective scores improved after treatment: the improvement was statistically signifi-cant (p<0.001). CONCLUSION. The study results confirm the efficacy of dipotassium glycyrrhizinate in treating nasal congestion.