Radiofrequency Ablation of Bilateral Inferior Turbinate Followed by Subcutaneous Immunotherapy Trial

Summary

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a global health issue adversely impacting the quality of life (QoL) of affected individuals and exerting a huge public health burden. Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) has been shown to be effective in the treatment of not only the symptoms, but also the underlying causes of the disease. Moreover, AIT has a preventative role against new sensitizations and development of asthma in AR patients. Hence AIT is recommended as an integrated part of an allergy management strategy in the treatment of AR. Over the development of one century, AIT has been delivered by various routes. Among them, subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) has been currently widely used in clinical practice.

House dust mite (HDM) has been reported to be the most common sensitizing allergen in China. Nasal obstruction is the common complaint in HDM-sensitized AR and prompts patients to seek medical help. It has been proved that HDM-SCIT showed favourable efficacy in treating persistent AR. However, HDM-SCIT recommends 3 years of subcutaneous injection and requires good adherence to guarantee the efficacy. Later onset of nasal obstruction alleviation might reduce the adherence of HDM-SCIT.

Radiofrequency ablation of bilateral inferior turbinate can relieve nasal obstruction within a short time after operation. It is hypothesized that, in HDM-AR patients with severe nasal obstruction, bilateral inferior turbinate surgery followed by HDM-SCIT will obtain quick-onset of good nasal ventilation and improve AIT adherence.

The overall objective of the proposed randomized controlled trial is to test whether radiofrequency ablation of bilateral inferior turbinate followed by subcutaneous immunotherapy will improve nasal obstruction among patients with house dust mite sensitized allergic rhinitis (HDM-AR) compared to subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) only during the 4-month build-up phase as well as the 36-month full phase of SCIT.

Conditions

• Allergic Rhinitis Due to House Dust Mite

Interventions

PROCEDURE

Radiofrequency ablation of bilateral inferior turbinate followed by subcutaneous immunotherapy

The regulation and monitoring of the entire soft-coagulation process are conducted via the radiofrequency generator under endoscopic guidance. Lateral out-fracture of the inferior turbinate is performed if necessary. One month after surgery, allergen immunotherapy will be conducted. Standardized Dp allergen extracts (Alutard SQ, ALK-Abell'o) were used for SCIT. According to the manufacturer's instructions, the build up phase was carried out with weekly injections of volumes of 0.2, 0.4, and 0.8 mL in the first 3 vials (nos. 1 to 3) and 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, and 1.0 mL in vial no. 4, reaching the maintenance dose, 100,000 standardized quality units. The specialist adjusted the dose according to the patient's therapeutic response, and the cumulative allergen dose for each patient was the maximal tolerable injected dose. Then, the maintenance dose was given with an injection interval of 6±2 weeks according to the manufacturer's recommendations.

PROCEDURE

SCIT

Allergen immunotherapy will be conducted. Standardized Dp allergen extracts (Alutard SQ, ALK-Abell'o) were used for SCIT. According to the manufacturer's instructions, the build up phase was carried out with weekly injections of volumes of 0.2, 0.4, and 0.8 mL in the first 3 vials (nos. 1 to 3) and 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, and 1.0 mL in vial no. 4, reaching the maintenance dose, 100,000 standardized quality units. The specialist adjusted the dose according to the patient's therapeutic response, and the cumulative allergen dose for each patient was the maximal tolerable injected dose. Then, the maintenance dose was given with an injection interval of 6±2 weeks according to the manufacturer's recommendations.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Eye & ENT Hospital of Fudan University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Huabin Li · Eye & ENT Hospital of Fudan University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

60 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-10-01

Primary Completion

2026-06-30

Completion

2026-12-31