Farmacja Polska (Jan 2021)
Pharmaceutical Care for pediatric and adult patients in acute or chronic rhinosinusitis according to the EPOS 2020 guidelines
Abstract
Abstract: At the beginning of 2020, the latest updated European Position Paper on Rhinosinusitis and Nasal Polyps (abbreviation: EPOS 2020) was published under the auspices of the European Society of Rhinology. EPOS 2020 presents updated guidelines based on the highest quality scientific evidence, resulted from the analysis of updated, evidence-based reports of EBM (Evidence Based Medicine) from the last eight years, including and addressing such areas as diagnostics and treatment of chronic sinusitis in the pediatric population or sinus surgery. In the treatment process the new EPOS 2020 guidelines involve not only the physicians themselves, but also the new concerned who have been more involved in the treatment of rhinitis and para nasal sinusitis since the publication of the last EPOS document and guidelines in 2012. This includes, among others, pharmacists, nurses, care providers and, in fact, patients themselves, who are using more and more self-control over their condition, correctly applying prescription treatment as well as over the counter (abbreviation: OTC) treatment. The guidelines also outline further research directions in the area of para nasal sinusitis. What is more, in comparison to the guidelines from 2012 (EPOS 2012), they change the treatment regimen at the initial stage, placing the patient and the pharmacist first, and then, when the first stage of self-treatment fails, successively family doctors, internists and paediatricians (primary care physicians), followed by consultation with a specialist otorhinolaryngologist (with possible hospitalisation) as the last, third stage in the treatment regimen. According to the data published in the PGEU report (full name: Pharmacetical Group of the European Union) in 2018, 58% of Europeans are able to reach the nearest pharmacy within 5 minutes, and 98% of European residents within no more than half an hour, what makes pharmacists the most accessible group of professionals in the primary health care system.
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