Septal injection in comparison with inferior turbinates injection of botulinum toxin A in patients with allergic rhinitis.

Background: Botulinum toxin A (BTA) is a promising therapeutic option in the treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR). Although recent studies have introduced BTA septal injection as an alternative method, the conventional localization for the injection of BTA in patients with AR is still the nasal turbinates. This study was designed to compare the effectiveness and safety of septal BTA injection with turbinal BTA injection in patients with AR.

Materials And Methods: This open-label study was performed on 50 patients with AR who were randomly allocated to septal and turbinal BTA injection groups. All patients received an injection of 40 U of BTA (Dysport(®), Ipsen Ltd, Maidenhead, UK) in each side of the nose and were followed for 8 weeks. Prior to the intervention and 8 weeks later, symptom severity and quality of life scores were calculated using the AR symptom severity and Rhinasthma questionnaires respectively.

Results: Comparison of pre- and post-treatment symptom severity scores within each group showed a significant reduction of total symptom severity score and severity of sneezing, rhinorrhea, and congestion in both groups (P < 0.05). However, post-treatment symptom severity scores were not significantly different between two groups (P > 0.05). Both methods have improved the quality of life of subjects significantly (P < 0.05). Significantly more patients in the turbinal injection group reported adverse effects (four patient's vs. one, P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Although both septal and turbinal BTA injections are effective on patients with AR, septal administration of BTA could be safer and easier method. However, further investigations are required to achieve more accurate results.