Probiotics as adjunctive treatment for chronic rhinosinusitis: A randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: To determine if oral probiotics as adjunctive treatment are more effective than placebo in improving quality of life in patients with chronic inflammatory rhinosinusitis. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. METHODS: A total of 77 patients with chronic inflammatory rhinosinusitis were randomly assigned to receive oral probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus R0011 strain (500 million active cells/tablet twice daily) (n = 39) or oral placebo treatment (n = 38) for 4 weeks. RESULTS: In the probiotic group, the mean change from baseline in the SNOT-20 scores was significant at 4 weeks (P = 0.002) but not at 8 weeks (P = 0.37). Rhinological domain improved by 9.3 percent (P = 0.004) in probiotics group but returned to baseline level at 8 weeks. No significant differences were found between the probiotic and placebo groups in mean changes from baseline to 4 weeks (P = 0.79) or from baseline to 8 weeks (P = 0.23). No changes in symptom frequency were noted, either within each group or between treatment groups at 4 and 8 weeks. There was no difference in medication use or side effects between the two study groups. CONCLUSION: Oral use of the probiotic strain L rhamnosus R0011 did not improve sinonasal quality-of-life scores in patients with chronic inflammatory rhinosinusitis compared with placebo.