A review of research involving 462 children and adolescents with confirmed allergic rhinitis looked at the effects of nasal saline irrigation. The study compared using saline rinses to standard medical care or no treatment at all. The results showed a large and significant reduction in nasal symptom scores for the children using saline.
In addition to better symptoms, the children who used saline rinses needed to use rescue antihistamines much less often. While there was a trend toward better overall disease control, this specific result was not statistically significant. The study noted that the evidence for these findings was of low to very low certainty, partly due to a high risk of bias in the original studies.
Safety was a key finding as well. The only reported side effects were minor, such as infrequent nasal irritation. No serious events were reported. Because the evidence is limited and the study's certainty is low, these results should be viewed as a starting point for discussion with a healthcare provider rather than a definitive rule.
