Are systemic corticosteroids effective in relieving symptoms of acute sinusitis?
Systemic corticosteroids are frequently used to treat acute sinusitis. A recent analysis of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) assess the effectiveness of systemic corticosteroids in relieving symptoms of acute sinusitis . Four randomized controlled trials with a total of 1008 adult participants met the inclusion criteria. All participants received oral antibiotics and were assigned to either oral corticosteroids (prednisone 24 mg to 80 mg daily or betamethasone 1 mg daily) or the control treatment (placebo in three trials and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in one trial). In all trials, participants treated with oral corticosteroids were more likely to have short-term resolution or improvement of symptoms than those receiving the control treatment : at Days 3 to 7. An analysis of the three trials with placebo as a control treatment showed similar results but with a lesser effect size: No data on the long-term effects of oral corticosteroid