Secretory otitis media is the most common middle ear disease, particularly in children. It is often the consequence of an incompletely cured previous acute respiratory infection and/or rhinosinusitis. Among other clinical benefits, effective treatment of otitis media ensures adequate prevention of possible future episodes of loss of hearing.

The main cause of secretory otitis is an impaired function of the auditory canal.

The treatment of secretory otitis media basically seeks to eliminate the causative factor and restore auditory canal function, eradicate middle ear exudate and create suitable conditions for its evacuation, and restore the middle ear mucosa.

A large part of these treatment goals can be achieved with the administration of Nasodren®.“This product has shown that it is able to improve mucociliary clearance of the nasal mucosa and paranasal sinuses, decreasing secretion in the tympanic cavity; furthermore, it improves the auditory canal’s ventilatory and drainage functions,” the Byelorussian expert said.

The interest in using this product in the treatment of otitis media arises from its unique mechanism of action. Through its ability to induce stimulation of the nasal mucosa receptors, it has several interesting clinical effects: mucus hypersecretion, bringing about a decrease in the quantity of mucus, intensified epithelial function and improved nose and sinus clearance, and stimulation of the auditory canal muscles and improvement of the ventilation and drainage functions.

Hypersecretion, with decrease in mucus quantity

Improved epithelium function and nose and sinus clearance

Stimulation of auditory canal muscles and improved ventilation and drainage

In order to verify these effects of cyclamen extract in otitis media patients, it has been used in 33 patients with acute secretory otitis and 10 patients with chronic secretory otitis (32 were children aged 5-18 years and 11 were adults aged 20-77 years); in 28 cases, the main cause of the secretory otitis was the presence of an acute viral respiratory infection and in 17 it was rhinosinusitis. In the patients with acute secretory otitis, Nasodren® was administered once a day for 3 days; in the patients with chronic secretory otitis, it was administered for 5 days, starting on the second day after myringotomy. In addition, there was a control group with 30 patients (20 cases of acute otitis and 10 cases of chronic otitis).

In the patients with acute secretory otitis, it has been observed that administration of this plant-based preparation improves the patients’ hearing ability and tympanic membrane motility. These benefits are seen clearly and consistently after the fourth or fifth day; in addition, a normal tympanogram is also obtained by this time (confirming evacuation of the exudates from the tympanic membrane). It was not necessary to perform a myringotomy in any of the cases.

The detailed analysis of the course followed by the symptoms in all the patients included in this study shows, among other things, that both during the first days of treatment (day 4-5) and later on (days 6-7 and 8-10), the recovery from otitis symptoms is appreciably better in the group treated with Nasodren® than in the control group.

It is also confirmed that the time during which the patients receive treatment is significantly less in the group receiving the cyclamen extract (5-6 days on average) compared with the control group (8-9 days on average).

In her conclusions, Dr. Petrova highlighted that “the administration of Nasodren® for the treatment of acute and chronic otitis enables the treatment time to be shortened and also avoids having to perform myringotomies in patients with acute otitis media.” In her opinion, “Nasodren® is an effective medicine and should be indicated for the treatment of secretory otitis for its marked secretolytic effect and its positive impact on the function of the auditory canal.”