The use of intranasal glucocorticosteroids in the treatment of persistent allergic rhinitis after COVID-19 infection

Introduction. Modern algorithms for the diagnosis and treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR) recommend a stepwise approach for managing symptoms of the disease. A part of patients with AR have symptoms that indicate to the past COVID-19 followed by significant impairment of the olfactory function. The article places special emphasis on the intranasal glucocorticosteroid option of treatment to manage nasal and general symptoms in persistent AR. The aim of the study is to evaluate the efficacy of mometasone furoate in patients with a confirmed diagnosis of persistent AR, olfactory disorders, and past COVID-19 infection. Materials and methods. A total of 72 patients with persistent AR were included in the randomized controlled prospective study. All patients had a history of olfactory dysfunction with varied severity, which persisted after COVID-19 infection. Results. Measuring the severity of nasal and general symptoms on Day 15 of treatment showed a positive outcome in both groups: the patients of the main group experienced changes, to a greater extent, in nasal congestion, rhinorrhea, olfactory disorders, the patients of the control group generally demonstrated a reduction in nasal congestion, rhinorrhea, itching and sneezing, and improvement of sleep. The final measuring of the severity of complaints on Day 30 of treatment showed that patients of the main group managed to cure the olfactory disorders (0.9 points on the VAS), nasal congestion (0.4 points on the VAS), rhinorrhea and itching (0.2 points on the VAS). Sleep disorders continued to disturb patients in both groups, its improvements in the main group were statistically insignificant. Conclusions. The complaints of nasal congestion, impaired olfactory function and sleep disorders were noted to prevail in patients with persistent form of AR after COVID-19. The followed measuring of the olfactory function using the SST-12 screening test showed that all patients had anosmia. It has been confirmed that the use of mometasone furoate in the treatment of persistent AR in patients with severe olfactory dysfunction after COVID-19 would be appropriate.