From clinical guidelines to practice. Clinical experience in treatment of patients with allergic rhinitis

Introduction. Antihistamines are the most commonly prescribed class of medications for the treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR). However, they are also widely used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases of the ENT organs. One such drug is levocytirizine, (R) an enantiomer of cetirizine, which is a selective antagonist of peripheral histamine H1-receptors. This article analyzes the properties of levocytirizine in terms of safety and efficacy in allergic rhinitis.Aim of the study is to assess the efficacy of levocetirizine in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) and perennial allergic rhinitis (PAR) versus placebo, and safety for patients with allergic rhinitis.Materials and methods. In this, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 52 patients with year-round allergic rhinitis and 28 patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis were randomized to receive levocetirizine 5 mg/day once or placebo. Mean overall measures of five symptoms (nasal congestion, nasal itching, itchy eyes, rhinorrhea, and sneezing) were compared between treatment groups at 1, 2, and 4 weeks. All individual symptom scores were also examined.Results. Levocetirizine showed a significant improvement in the condition of patients with CAR and SAR over the entire treatment period compared to placebo. Assessment of individual symptoms showed statistically significant differences in favor of levocetirizine. Conclusion. Levocetirizine is an effective, safe, and well-tolerated drug for the treatment of allergic rhinitis.

Acupressure in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis: a randomized controlled exploratory trial

Background Acupuncture has shown beneficial effects for seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR); however, it is time and cost intensive. We investigated feasibility and effects of self-administered body acupressure as a self-care technique that stimulates acupuncture points with manual pressure in SAR patients. Methods We conducted a two-armed randomized controlled exploratory trial to compare effects of self-administered acupressure over 4 weeks at five acupuncture points plus rescue medication (RM) with cetirizine compared to RM alone in SAR patients. Among other outcome parameters, we assessed disease-related quality of life (Rhinitis Quality of Life Questionnaire [RQLQ]), overall SAR symptoms by a visual analogue scale (VAS) and a rescue medication score (RMS) after 4 and 8 weeks. Results Forty-one SAR patients (mean age 38.5 ± 10.0 years, n = 21, 51.2% women) were randomized. Compared to RM alone (n = 21), acupressure plus RM (n = 20) was associated with relevant improvements after 4 weeks, shown by the difference between groups in adjusted means of RQLQ: − 0.9 points (95% CI − 1.6 to − 0.2; p = 0.011) and VAS overall SAR symptoms: − 21.6 mm (95% CI − 36.3 to − 6.8; p = 0.005). The RMS was lower in the acupressure group than in the control group: 1.9 points (95% CI − 3.8 to − 0.1; p = 0.120). Group differences decreased slightly until week 8. The acupressure was feasible and safe. Conclusion Results of this exploratory study indicate that self-applied acupressure is feasible, may improve disease-specific quality of life and reduce disease-related symptoms as well as anti-allergic medication intake in SAR patients. High-quality confirmatory studies including a sham-control group are needed in the future. Trial registration DRKS-ID: DRKS00014310. Date of registration in DRKS: 2018/04/24. Investigator sponsored/initiated trial (IST/IIT): yes. Ethics approval/approval of the ethics committee: Approved (leading) Ethics Committee No. EA1/033/18, Ethik-Kommission der Charité -Universitätsmedizin Berlin. URL: https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00014310