Comparison of Nasal Saline Irrigation Bottle Contamination Between Two Solutions

Rhinosinusitis is one of the most prevalent diseases in the United States with an estimated 31 million adults diagnosed with this condition. The annual health care burden has been estimated to exceed 5.8 billion dollars. Unfortunately, the underlying etiology of rhinosinusitis is not fully understood and may encompass multiple factors including: anatomic variations, impaired immune function, ciliary dysfunction, seasonal allergies, aspirin allergy, and bacterial biofilms. There are a wide variety of treatment options aimed at reducing the symptoms of rhinosinusitis with nasal saline irrigations (NSI) being one of the foundations for therapeutic intervention.

The benefits of NSI in rhinosinusitis in reducing nasal symptoms have been demonstrated in multiple reports. The mechanisms in which NSI exerts its beneficial effects are not fully understood, though multiple theories exist including: improvement in mucociliary function, decreased nasal mucosal edema, and removal of infectious debris and allergens. NSI are administered intranasally with the use of an irrigation bottle with a wide variety of brands commercially available for patients to select. In the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Clinic at the University of Virginia Health System, NeiMed bottles are provided to patients who are diagnosed with rhinosinusitis. In addition, the patients are given an informational sheet regarding the care and cleaning of these irrigation bottles. Unfortunately, irrigation bottles can become colonized with bacteria including: Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida species. The contamination of irrigation bottles can be a nidus for continued bacterial introduction into the nasal cavity and therefore decreasing the beneficial effects of NSI.

Recently, a novel commercially available irrigation solution, the ChitoRhino, has been developed with chitosan, a natural polysaccharide demonstrated to have antibacterial and antifungal properties. This polysaccharide has beneficial properties in multiple clinic applications including wound healing and post-operative sinus surgery. Chitosan's antimicrobial function develops from its polycationic structure. Chitosan interacts with the negatively charge bacterial wall, leading to disruption and cell lysis. There is a paucity of literature examining the beneficial effect of chitosan in decreasing bacterial contamination in irrigation bottles. This project represents a pilot study investigating the antimicrobial effects of chitosan in irrigation bottles for patients with rhinosinusitis.