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Effectiveness of temperature-controlled radiofrequency neurolysis of the posterior nasal nerve to treat chronic rhinitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Abstract

Purpose

This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates the effect of TRNP on rhinitis-related symptoms.

Methods

We reviewed studies retrieved from PubMed, SCOPUS, Embase, the Web of Science, and the Cochrane database to June 2023. Studies that evaluated quality-of-life and rhinitis-related symptom scores before and after treatment were analyzed, as was one sham-treatment-controlled study.

Results

In total, 406 patients evaluated in five studies were analyzed. TRNP significantly improved rhinitis-related symptoms—congestion, itching, rhinorrhea, and sneezing—for up to 12 months after treatment, compared to before treatment. The most significant symptom decreases were those of rhinorrhea and nasal congestion. Rhinitis-related symptoms had improved significantly at 3 months after TRNP, compared to sham surgery. TRNP improved disease-specific quality-of-life scores on the Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire at 6 months after treatment, compared to before treatment. The rates of clinical improvement in terms of all nasal symptoms (reduction > 30% from baseline) and in quality of life (minimal clinically important difference > 0.4) after TRNP were 79% and 84% respectively. There was no severe adverse event associated with either device use or the overall procedure.

Conclusions

TRNP treatment improved subjective symptoms related to rhinitis, especially rhinorrhea and nasal congestion, and also improved disease-specific quality-of-life scores.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT)(RS-2023-00209494, 2022R1F1A1066232), and Korean Fund for Regenerative Medicine(KFRM) grant funded by the Korea government (23C0121L1). The sponsors had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea

    Do Hyun Kim, Soo Whan Kim & Sung Won Kim

  2. Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Gulnaz Stybayeva

  3. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Bucheon St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea

    Se Hwan Hwang

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  1. Do Hyun Kim
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Correspondence to Se Hwan Hwang.

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Kim, D.H., Kim, S.W., Kim, S.W. et al. Effectiveness of temperature-controlled radiofrequency neurolysis of the posterior nasal nerve to treat chronic rhinitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 281, 537–545 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-023-08242-z

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