The influence of anesthetics and vasoconstrictors on nasal mucociliary transport.

Nasal mucociliary transport time is studied in 38 healthy individuals using the charcoal dust technique, following topical application of a lidocaine solution in 10 cases, tetracaine in 11, and oxymetazoline in 17. The results show that lidocaine does not alter the transit time, whereas tetracaine increases it significantly; in turn, oxymetazoline progressively increases transit time, although this slowing is fully reversible 30 minutes after application.