This article is only available in the PDF format. Download the PDF to view the article, as well as its associated figures and tables.
The medical treatment of chronic sinusitis is a neglected field compared with the voluminous writings on the surgical therapy of this same problem. One looks forward to finding new ideas on this subject, since the old methods of diathermy over the sinuses or Argyrol packs in the nose have almost entirely been abandoned. Present-day conservative therapy includes use of nose drops or srays, oral decongestants, irrigation of maxillary sinuses by puncture or through the natural ostium, and Proetz treatments (useful in clearing ethmoid sinus congestion).
Dr Moser is rather naive in presenting, as his sole method of therapy, nasal lavage with saline-glucose solutions. Such lavage is useful in the later stages of a cold or in chronic sinusitis with hyperactive mucosal activity. It has been used in many clinics for years, and, in fact, Proetz-type irrigations are a similar form of lavage.
On the other hand, daily nasal lavage that