To investigate the effects of nasal irrigation with sodium hyaluronate and surfactant solutions on mucociliary clearance time in patients with mild persistent allergic rhinitis.

A total of 120 patients diagnosed with mild persistent allergic rhinitis were enrolled in this prospective study. The patients were allocated randomly to the surfactant, sodium hyaluronate or isotonic saline (as a control) nasal irrigation group. The mucociliary clearance times and improvements in mucociliary clearance times were compared.

Improvements in mean mucociliary clearance time were significantly greater in the surfactant and sodium hyaluronate groups than in the control group (p < 0.01). The mean post-treatment mucociliary clearance time of the surfactant group was significantly lower than that of the control (p < 0.001) and sodium hyaluronate groups (p = 0.03).

Surfactant and sodium hyaluronate nasal irrigation solutions may both be used as adjunctive treatments for allergic rhinitis. Surfactant nasal irrigation resulted in better mucociliary clearance times.

There is a growing interest in sodium hyaluronate for the clinical management of patients who undergo functional endoscopic sinus surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis, because of the mucosal regenerative properties of this macromolecule. However, its role in post-operative care is still debated. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of sodium hyaluronate administered via nasal irrigation with saline, in the post-operative period, after functional endoscopic sinus surgery.

A multicentric, prospective, randomised, double-blind, parallel group study was conducted on 56 consecutive patients who underwent functional endoscopic sinus surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis without polyps. Group 1 received the standard therapy of normal saline; group 2 received saline plus sodium hyaluronate.

Both objective and subjective measurements, in terms of endoscopic appearance and patient-reported satisfaction, were significantly better in group 2 compared to group 1.

Sodium hyaluronate may be a useful adjunct to nasal saline irrigation in the early post-operative period following functional endoscopic sinus surgery.