Brazilian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology (Nov 2021)

Rhinophototherapy, an alternative treatment of allergic rhinitis: Systematic review and meta-analysis

  • Tatyana Machado Ramos Costa,
  • Fernanda Melo Carneiro,
  • Karen Amanda Soares de Oliveira,
  • Maria Fernanda Barbosa Souza,
  • Melissa Ameloti Gomes Avelino,
  • Isabela Jubé Wastowski

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 87, no. 6
pp. 742 – 752

Abstract

Read online

Introduction: Allergic rhinitis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the nasal mucosa, mediated by immunoglobulin E, affecting 1 in 6 individuals. The treatment aims at attaining symptomatic control with minimal side effects, a requirement for new alternative therapies, including phototherapy, as it has an immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory effect. Objective: To identify the effectiveness of phototherapy in the treatment of allergic rhinitis through a meta-analysis. Methods: We searched Web of Science, Scielo, PubMed, SCOPUS, PEDro, and LILACS databases, using the terms: “intranasal irradiation”, “phototherapy” and “allergic rhinitis”. The R software Metafor package was used for the meta-analysis and the effect size was calculated for each symptom individually. Results: All symptoms decreased considerably after phototherapy: rhinorrhea (ES• = −1.35; p < 0.0001; I2 = 91.84%), sneezing (ES• = −1.24; p < 0.0001; I2 = 91.43%), nasal pruritus (ES• = −1.10; p < 0.0001; I2 = 91.43%); nasal obstruction (ES• = −1.11; p < 0.0001; I2 = 91.88%). The effects were more significant in perennial allergic rhinitis than in the seasonal type. Conclusion: Considering the effect size and the statistical significance attained in our study, rhinophototherapy showed to be an effective treatment for reducing the nasal symptom scores triggered by AR.

Keywords