Treatment of allergic and vasomotor rhinitis by the local application of silver nitrate.

A new, simple and effective local treatment of allergic and vasomotor rhinitis is presented. Using 15 per cent silver nitrate, bilateral chemical cautery of the anterior part of the nasal septum and inferior turbinates has been carried out at weekly intervals on 1 to 5 occasions, in 41 cases. No distinction was made between allergic rhinitis and vasomotor rhinitis. 92.6 per cent of cases belonged to the age group of 11 to 50 years. There was a slight predominance of female over male patients in this study. Only those cases were selected who had sneezing as the presenting symptom, while 17 per cent of these patients also suffered from asthma. The eosinophil count in the blood was below 5 per cent in 73.2 per cent of cases, and was above 10 per cent in 9.8 per cent of cases. Eosinophils were present in the nasal secretions of of 66.6 per cent of patients. Intestinal parasites were detected in the stools of 19.5 per cent of cases. No significant quantity of methaemoglobin was detected in the blood of any patient. Silver nitrate was applied after topical anaesthesia with 4 per cent lignocaine solution. The majority of patients had 2 to 4 applications. 68.3 per cent of patients had good relief, particularly from sneezing and watering of the nose. If patients treated with only a single application of silver nitrate are excluded from the series, 79.4 per cent patients reported relief. Significantly, out of 7 cases who were suffering from allergic rhinitis as well as asthma, 57.1 per cent of cases had freedom from the asthma. Among 3 patients who had no relief with earlier intranasal hydrocortisone injections, 66.6 per cent cases had good relief with silver nitrate. One patient who had good relief from allergic rhinitis developed anosmia after this treatment and some patients experienced transient sneezing and rhinorrhoea after the application of silver nitrate. Long-term results are awaited and it is suggested that further studies are necessary regarding the number of applications, the interval between applications, the strength of the silver nitrate solution, and the possible use of other chemical or physical agents for this mode of treatment.