Postnasal drip and chronic cough in patients with chronic rhinitis treated with temperature‐controlled radiofrequency neurolysis

Objective To evaluate the contribution of postnasal drip (PND) and chronic cough (CC) to symptoms of patients with chronic rhinitis treated with temperature‐controlled radiofrequency (TCRF) neurolysis of the posterior nasal nerve (PNN), and correlate PND and CC scores with components of the reflective total nasal symptom score (rTNSS). Methods Pooled data from three prospective studies: two single‐arm studies and the index active treatment arm of a randomized controlled trial. Adult patients with baseline rTNSS ≥6 were treated with TCRF neurolysis at nonoverlapping regions of the PNN. PND and CC symptoms were evaluated on a 0 (none) to 3 (severe) scale. Results Data from 228 patients (57.9% women, 42.1% men) were included. The mean baseline rTNSS was 8.1 (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.8–8.3), which decreased to 3.2 (95% CI, 2.9–3.5) at 6 months. At baseline, 97.4% of patients had PND and 80.3% had CC. Median baseline PND and CC symptom scores were 3 (interquartile range [IQR], 2–3) and 2 (IQR, 1–2), respectively. At 6 months, this decreased to 1 (IQR, 0–2) and 0 (IQR, 0–1), respectively, showing significant improvement from baseline (both p