Allergic Rhinitis (Nursing)

Excerpt

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is an atopic disease characterized by symptoms of nasal congestion, clear rhinorrhea, sneezing, and nasal pruritis. It can affect one in every six individuals and has associations with significant morbidity, loss of productivity, and health-care costs. Historically, the belief was that AR was a condition of the nasal passages only. Still, the treatment of AR is now a systemic disease due to its close association with asthma and atopic dermatitis. AR can be classified as seasonal (intermittent) or perennial (chronic), with approximately 20% of cases being seasonal, 40% perennial, and 40% with both features. Outside of nasal symptoms, patients suffering from untreated AR can also have allergic conjunctivitis, post-nasal drip, non-productive cough, Eustachian tube dysfunction, and chronic sinusitis. Once diagnosed, AR is treatable with a variety of modalities, with intra-nasal glucocorticoids being first-line therapy.