Essai clinique randomisé visant à évaluer l’efficacité du lavage des cavités nasales à l’aide d’une solution saline dans la prévention des otites moyennes aiguës à répétition
Introduction: Normal saline nasal cavity irrigations (NSNI) are commonly recommended by pediatricians and otolaryngologists to prevent recurrent acute otitis media (rAOM). However, no published scientific study corroborates or invalidates this practice.   Goal: To determine the efficacy of NSNI to prevent rAOM.    Method: Pilot randomized controlled clinical trial. All consecutive patients with a diagnosis of rAOM were eligible. Recruited patients were randomized in 2 groups. Only patients in the treatment group proceeded with NSNI. The primary outcome of the study was the incidence of rAOM observed during a 3 month period.   Results: Twenty-nine patients met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and agreed to participate. There was a statistically significant lower incidence of rAOM in the treatment group (p=0.003, Fisher exact).   Conclusion: Our results suggest that NSNI could effectively prevent rAOM. A larger scale randomized multicentre study is feasible, and it must be done in order to verify for external validity and to properly assess safety issues.
Irrigations nasales Randomized controlled trial Prevention Isotonic saline solution nasal irrigations Acute otitis media