The Evaluation of a Nasal Decongestant Preparation

Abstract

A VARIETY of drugs and drug formulations have been developed for the symptomatic relief of engorged mucous membranes which accompany coryza and upper respiratory infections. Existing objective techniques for measuring duration of drug effect include the determination of urinary excretion patterns1 or blood levels2 following drug administration. However, these are measurements of drug levels only inferentially related to therapeutic responses. Direct determinations of nasal airflow have been used occasionally to compare the effectiveness of formulations, and some of these rhinometric techniques have been reviewed by Aviado,3 Stoksted,4 and McLaurin.5,6 The technique that we have developed is essentially a modification of that reported by McLaurin, dependent only upon a pressure transducer and a direct writing recorder. Standard airflow measurements depend upon variations of pressure drop relative to a standard external pressure, an oxygen tank, for example. For our method we have eliminated the external pressure standard