A Comparative Pilot Study of Symptom Improvement Before and After Phototherapy in Korean Patients with Perennial Allergic Rhinitis

Abstract

Although allergic rhinitis is not life threatening, it significantly influences the quality of a patient's life. This study is intended to evaluate the safety and efficacy of phototherapy with low-level energy of a 650 nm laser irradiation system in perennial allergic rhinitis patients. This clinical trial was an open-label, single-center study with 42 perennial allergic rhinitis subjects. Following laser irradiation in the nasal cavity with a laser irradiation system, the efficacy at weeks 1 through 4 was determined. The symptoms were scored with four parameters (nasal obstruction, rhinorrhea, sneezing and itching) before and after illumination of the laser, and the total score was recorded. A survey of Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ) was conducted by patients before and after treatment. Following treatment, significant improvement in the clinical symptoms of nasal obstruction (P < 0.001), rhinorrhea (P = 0.005), sneezing (P = 0.001) and itching (P = 0.003) was reported by 68% of perennial allergic rhinitis patients. The overall RQLQ scores significantly improved by 45% from the baseline with the treatment after 4 weeks. These results indicate that phototherapy is an effective modality for treating perennial allergic rhinitis and is another option in the steroid-free management of immune-mediated mucosal diseases.