Abstract
Fifty-three patients who complained of a foreign body sensation of the larynx were treated with suplatast tosilate (IPD) between January 2004 and April 2005. The final subjective efficacy of IPD in the fifty three patients evaluated were as follows: excellent, nine patients ; effective, twenty seven patients; good, six patients and; poor, eleven patients. The effectiveness rates, inclusive of excellent, effective, and good efficacy comprised 79% of the patients. The efficacy of IPD was evident in an average of 2.3 weeks, and there were no remarkable adverse effect. It was therefore speculated that IPD is effective for the treatment of foreign body sensation of the larynx, mainly attributed to the suppression of IL-4 or IL-5 production from the Th2 type cell of the mucosa.
