The Effect of Three Forms of Local Corticosteroids on Sinonasal Polyposis.

Introduction: Since sinonasal polyposis (SNP) has a high recurrence rate after surgery, various studies have investigated the effect of corticosteroid medications to prevent disease recurrence. The present study was designed to compare the effect of three forms of local corticosteroids on preventing SNP recurrence post-operatively.

Materials and methods: This double-blind, randomized clinical trial study was conducted on 108 patients with SNP who underwent functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). Permuted Block Randomization randomly assigned patients into three groups of 36 people: budesonide spray, betamethasone drop, and budesonide nebulizing suspension groups. One and six months after surgery, the patients were evaluated for recurrence of SNP by nasal endoscopy. SNOT 22 questionnaire was used to assess patients' subjective improvement rate pre- and post-operatively.

Results: According to the scores obtained in the Modified Lund-Kennedy Scoring, budesonide nebulizing suspension showed better effects on preventing the recurrence of sino-nasal polyps after FESS compared with betamethasone nasal drops. The score was significantly lower in the budesonide nebulizing suspension group compared to the betamethasone drop group (P=0.043). There was no statistically significant difference in the scores between the budesonide nebulizing suspension group and the betamethasone spray group (P=0.178). Also, we observed significant improvement in facial fullness in patients who received Budesonide nebulizing suspension.

Conclusions: Budesonide nebulizing suspension, compared to betamethasone nasal drops, showed better effects on preventing the recurrence of SNP after FESS.