Topical decongestants are decongestants applied directly to the nasal cavity. Their effectiveness by themselves in the common cold appears to have a small benefit in adults.
Topical decongestants should only be used by patients for a maximum of 5–7 days in a row, because rebound congestion may occur in the form of rhinitis medicamentosa. When used in adults for a short period of time side effects appear to be few.
Mechanism of action
Topical decongestants are vasoconstrictors, and work by constricting the blood vessels within the nasal cavity.
Examples
- Ephedrine
- Levomethamphetamine
- Naphazoline
- Oxymetazoline
- Phenylephrine
- Propylhexedrine
- Pseudoephedrine
- Tramazoline
- Xylometazoline
See also
References
- ^ Deckx, L; De Sutter, AI; Guo, L; Mir, NA; van Driel, ML (17 October 2016). "Nasal decongestants in monotherapy for the common cold". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 10: CD009612. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD009612.pub2. PMC 6461189. PMID 27748955.
| Decongestants and other nasal preparations (R01) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Topical |
| ||||||||||
| Systemic use: Sympathomimetics | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
 | This drug article relating to the respiratory system is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |