Intranasal Furosemide

Furosemide, a loop diuretic, has been shown to be as effective in retarding the growth of nasal polyps as are intranasal steroid sprays. Apparently this drug decreases the absorption of water into the respiratory epithelium, thus retarding development of polyps. For more details, see the article Treatment of Recurrent Chronic Hyperplastic Sinusitis With Nasal Polyposis in Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2003;129:656-659. An abstract can be found at http://archotol.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/129/6/656.

Some interesting stats: Chronic hyperplastic sinusitis with nasal polyps affects 1% to 4% of adults. Following polyp surgery, 30% of untreated patients in this nine-year study had relapses, compared to 18% of the patients treated with furosemide and 24% of those treated with an intranasal steroid spray.