Acute Inflammatory Diseases of the Pharynx – the Role and Possibilities of Local Therapy

Acute inflammatory diseases of the pharynx (tonsillitis, pharyngitis, etc.) are the most common reasons for visits to the family doctor and otorhinolaryngologist at any time of the year. In 95 % of cases, these diseases are caused by a viral infection (adenoviruses, influenza virus A and B, parainfluenza virus, herpes virus, enteroviruses, Coxsackie viruses), less often by group A Streptococcus. The objective: to analyze the clinical effectiveness of the local non-steroidal drug flurbiprofen in the treatment of acute viral pharyngitis and acute streptococcal tonsillitis in adults. Materials and methods. The study included 64 patients 18–36 years old (35 persons with viral pharyngitis and 29 – with streptococcal tonsillitis). The patients were divided into two groups: I (main) group – 40 patients (21 patients with acute viral pharyngitis who received flurbiprofen monotherapy at a dose of 8.75 mg and 19 patients with acute streptococcal tonsillitis who received flurbiprofen in combination with systemic antibiotic therapy); II (control) group – 24 patients (14 patients with acute viral pharyngitis took a placebo and 10 patients with acute streptococcal tonsillitis, who received only systemic antibiotic therapy). The evaluation of the treatment effectiveness of the study participants was carried out on the subjective indicators and objective criteria. Results. The results of the study presented that local flurbiprofen application is well absorbed through the mucous membranes and penetrates in the cases of inflammation. The local use leads to the reduction of the mucous membrane edema, decreased mucus hypersecretion, and permeability of the vascular wall, sore throat, and the risk of bacterial complications in patients with acute viral pharyngitis are reduced also. This explains the effectiveness of flurbiprofen use in the case of viral etiology of the disease and the strengthening effect in the systemic antibacterial therapy of acute streptococcal tonsillitis. After the course of treatment of pharynx acute inflammatory processes, it was established that a reliable rapid and significant decrease in pain and inflammatory phenomena was observed in patients of the main group who used flurbiprofen. Conclusions. It has been proven that the use of flurbiprofen has a pronounced analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect in diseases of the pharynx, as evidenced by the positive results of the treatment of patients with both acute viral pharyngitis and acute streptococcal tonsillitis. Compared with the use of monotherapy with systemic antibacterial drugs, the use of flurbiprofen simultaneously with systemic antibiotics eliminates the symptoms of streptococcal tonsillitis (sore throat, difficulty swallowing) much faster