A Clinical Trial on the Treatment of Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Continuous Ultrasound

抄録

[Purpose] Chronic rhinosinusitis is a common and long-term disease for which no definitive treatment has been established. The purpose of this trial was to examine the effects of continuous ultrasound on the treatment of patients with chronic maxillary and frontal sinusitis. [Subjects] Thirty adults with chronic rhinosinusitis (24 men, 6 women; age range, 18-65 yrs; mean, 35.8 yrs) participated in the study. [Methods] An interventional trial, pretest posttest study design was used. Subjects underwent treatment for 10 sessions, three days per week. Patients were examined before and after treatment. Follow-up questionnaires were sent to participants to assess changes in symptoms at 1 month posttreatment. Therapeutic continuous ultrasound was applied through the cheeks and the forehead for the maxillary and frontal sinuses, respectively. The primary outcome was the `percent improvement'. [Results] The patients had a significant improvement post-treatment (mean, 74.37%). Following treatment, the severity of all symptoms showed significant improvement (p<0.05). The beneficial effects of treatment were reported up to one month after treatment ended, in terms of recurrence of the disease (72% of patients). [Conclusion] This study showed that continuous ultrasound may be used as an effective modality for physiotherapy of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis.