These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Benzalkonium chloride and nasal mucociliary clearance: a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover, double-blind trial.
    Author: Rizzo JA, Medeiros D, Silva AR, Sarinho E.
    Journal: Am J Rhinol; 2006; 20(3):243-7. PubMed ID: 16871922.
    Abstract:
    BACKGROUND: Benzalkonium chloride (BKC) has been considered an innocuous preservative for prescription drugs. METHODS: We performed a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover, single-center trial with a 3-week washout period in 43 healthy volunteers comparing the effect of 3-week use of saline nasal spray containing BKC 0.01% to preservative-free saline t.i.d. on nasal mucociliary clearance rate. Evaluations were done at the beginning and the end of each period by gamma-scintigraphy with technetium99m-labeled strontium. RESULTS: Nasal mucociliary clearance rate was significantly impaired by BKC with a difference of 1.23 mm x min(-1) (p < 0.01) between periods. CONCLUSION: BKC in the concentration used in nasal preparations impaired mucociliary clearance in healthy individuals after 3 weeks of use. Presently, when preservative-free alternatives are available, BKC could be a risk without benefit.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]