Table 1—

Randomised, placebo-controlled trials of medical and surgical therapies in sleep-disordered breathing

First author [ref.]	Patient details	Intervention	Details of intervention	Outcomes^#
Kiely 39	23 subjects, 10 snorers and 13 OSA patients, all with chronic rhinitis	Drug therapy	Intranasal fluticasone versus saline placebo; double-blind, crossover design	AHI and NAR decreased on fluticasone; no difference in sleep architecture, snoring and S_p,O₂
Brouillette 40	25 children with OSA and adenotonsillar hypertrophy	Drug therapy	Intranasal fluticasone versus placebo; triple-blind, parallel design	AHI, S_p,O₂ and arousal frequency improved on fluticasone; no change in symptoms
Pevernagie 41	12 snorers with mean AHI 6 and chronic rhinitis with nasal obstruction	Mechanical device	Breathe Right1^TM versus placebo strips; double-blind, crossover design	Decrease in snoring events, no change in AHI, arousal index or sleep architecture
Bahammam 42	18 snorers with UARS, mean AHI 8.9	Mechanical device	Breathe Right1^TM versus placebo strips; double-blind, crossover design	Improved desaturation time and sleep architecture; no change in AHI, arousal index, or MSLT
Koutsourelakis 43	49 patient with moderate-to-severe OSA and fixed nasal obstruction due to deviated septum	Surgical therapy	Random assignment to septoplasty or sham surgery	No change in AHI overall but pre-operative nasal breathing positively related to changes in AHI

The studies presented are limited to those involving a randomised, double-blind (for nonsurgical studies) and placebo-controlled design, with objective sleep studies and a minimum treatment period of 1 week. Breathe Right1^TM manufactured by 3M, Borken, Germany. OSA: obstructive sleep apnoea; AHI: apnoea/hypopnoea index; NAR: nasal airflow resistance; S_p,O₂: arterial oxygen saturation measured by pulse oximetry; UARS: upper airway resistance syndrome; MSLT: multiple sleep latency testing. ^#: p<0.05 considered to be statistically significant.