Clinical study Does the Airmax internal nasal dilator® increase peak nasal inspiratory flow (PNIF) in adolescent athletes?

Airmax also increases nasal airflow with healthy adolescent athletes

Source reference

Ricardo Reis Dinardi, Claudia Ribeiro de Andrade, Hugo Cesar Martins-Costa, Cassio da Cunha Ibiapina (2015)

Does the Airmax internal nasal dilator^® increase peak nasal inspiratory flow (PNIF) in adolescent athletes?

Background

Nasal dilators are being developed for the purpose of increasing air flow in the nasal valve. The aim of this study is to evaluate the use of the internal nasal dilator (IND) by adolescent athletes.

Methodology

A double-blind, crossover clinical trial in which we evaluated 54 adolescents using treatment and placebo INDs, submitted to a cardio-respiratory 1000m race in randomized order. The predicted values for the peak nasal inspiratory flow (PNIF) were obtained and the intensity of dyspnoea was evaluated using the visual analogue scale method after the race.

Results

In relation to PNIF (% predicted), when participants used the treatment IND, significantly higher means were found in comparison with the placebo (104.27±24.67 L/min and 97.73±25.61 L/min, respectively) (p=0.010). There were no significant differences observed in terms of heart rate (HR), pulse oximetry (SpO₂) and maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂max.), before and after the cardio-respiratory test. There was also no significant difference (p>0.05) between the use of treatment and placebo INDs on dyspnoea scale measurements after completion of the cardio-respiratory test.

Conclusion

Results suggested that the Airmax^® IND improves nasal patency, as measured by PNIF, in healthy adolescent athletes. New studies should be conducted to evaluate the effect of IND in adolescent athletes with chronic diseases, such as asthma and allergic rhinitis, and also using other cardio-respiratory assessment methods.