BMJ  2006;333:395-396 (19 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7564.395-b

Letter

Antibiotics and acute purulent rhinitis

Are antibiotics effective for acute purulent rhinitis?

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Arroll and Kenealy conclude that antibiotics are probably effective for acute purulent rhinitis but suggest that most patients will get better without them and hence advocate a "no antibiotics as first line" treatment plan.¹ Their systematic review looked at seven studies comparing placebo with antibiotic treatment for "acute purulent rhinitis" and defined acute as "less than 10 days with this symptom." They considered all papers in the Cochrane reviews addressing the use of antibiotics for "the common cold and acute purulent rhinitis and for acute maxillary sinusitis."

They do not mention the evidence base used for the above definitions. The currently accepted definition of acute rhinosinusitis classifies an acute episode as lasting for "up to four weeks with total resolution of symptoms."² The authors have also grouped three different conditions together under the general heading of acute purulent rhinitis— namely, the common cold, acute purulent rhinitis, and acute . . . [Full text of this article]

West Middlesex University Hospital, Isleworth, Middlesex TW7 6AF jrimmer@doctors.org.uk

West Middlesex University Hospital, Isleworth, Middlesex TW7 6AF

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Are antibiotics effective for acute purulent rhinitis? Systematic review and meta-analysis of placebo controlled randomised trials

B Arroll and T Kenealy
BMJ 2006 333: 279. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]