Article Name: Effectiveness of Antibiotics for Acute Sinusitis in Real-Life Medical Practice

Journal: British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 2010

Authors: Blin, et al.

This prospective cohort study followed 5,640 patients diagnosed with acute sinusitis from a sample of 1,174 general practitioners and 120 ENT specialists for a total of 2 months. The main outcomes they studied were short term antibiotic success and lack of recurrence of symptoms after initial success. They defined short term antibiotic success as the absence of need for another antibiotic prescription or sinus lavage within 10 days. The study found initial success in 88.7% of patients not prescribed antibiotics and 96.2% of patients who were prescribed antibiotics. It found that the lack of recurrence of symptoms was similar between the individuals prescribed antibiotics and those who were not. Furthermore, the study found that antibiotics were more effective in populations of people who had poor oro-dental health or who have had antibiotics within the previous 2 months. In conclusion, the study determined that most cases of untreated acute sinusitis do resolve spontaneously. Patients who received antibiotics had their duration of symptoms reduced by on average 1 day, which was found to be statistically significant. Limitations of the study included the lack of randomization and blinding, which could lead to bias. Another identified limitation was the lack of definition of failure. This study reinforced previous knowledge that most cases of acute sinusitis, even if bacterial, resolve spontaneously; however the use of antibiotics can be beneficial in certain populations and for more severe symptoms.

Loading...

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab