Pharmacological aspects of decongestants use in the treatment of patients with inflammatory diseases of the nose and paranasal sinuses in pediatric practice

Acute upper respiratory infections are common among children and are often accompanied by inflammation of the mucous membrane of the nose and paranasal sinuses. Vasoconstrictive decongestants are one of the key methods of symptomatic therapy in inflammatory ear, throat, and nose (ENT) diseases. This research explores the pharmacology of decongestants, their classification, mechanism of action, features of administration in pediatric practice, and potential side effects. The safety of drugs in terms of their chemical structure, age groups and duration of use are given special attention. The article provides a review of current guidelines on the prescription of decongestants, including international standards for the treatment of rhinitis and rhinosinusitis in children, as well as the advantages of the fixed combination of phenylephrine and dimethindene over other vasoconstrictors. Nasal dosage forms of the fixed combination of phenylephrine and dimethindene have many advantages and are considered to be the safest in pediatric practice. A comparative analysis of drugs of different pharmacological groups shows that intranasal decongestants are the most effective and virtually non-competitive drugs used in a range of inflammatory ETN diseases that are accompanied by nasal obstruction: acute rhinitis (including acute respiratory viral infections), chronic rhinitis, allergic rhinitis, acute and chronic sinusitis, acute otitis media (as an adjuvant treatment). They are indispensable in the preparation for nasal surgical interventions, swelling of the mucous membrane of the nose and paranasal sinuses after surgical interventions and in other circumstances when it is pathogenetically and symptomatically necessary to reduce the swelling of the mucous membrane of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses in a faster way.