Symptom outcomes and quality of life
To assess the effect of rh-bFGF on the symptom outcomes and quality of life, VAS and SNOT-22 score were recorded. 2 weeks after ESS, the reduction in the VAS score for general symptoms in the rh-bFGF nasal-sprays and drops was significantly greater than that in control group(P1=0.04,P3=0.01,Figure1A). This trend was still obvious at 1 month. However, the difference was not significant(P1=0.09,P3=0.06,Figure1B). No significant difference was found among the three groups at 6 months and 1 year(Figure1C,D).
The symptom of nasal obstruction in rh-bFGF experimental groups was significantly relieved compared with the control group at 2 weeks and 1 month(FigureS2A,B). However, there was no difference at 6 months and 1 year(Figure S2C,D). For the rhinorrhea score, the reduction was significantly greater in the rh-bFGF nasal-drop group than in the control group at 2 weeks (P3=0.01), 1 month (P3=0.02) and 6 months(P3=0.002,FigureS2E,F,G). However, symptoms of rhinorrhea were not relieved in the rh-bFGF nasal-spray group compared to the control group after ESS(FigureS2E-H). Regarding olfaction, facial pressure and headache, the rh-bFGF experimental groups did not show significant changes after ESS compared to the control group (P>0.05,FigureS2I-T).
We next assessed the SNOT-22 score, and the reduction was significantly greater in the rh-bFGF nasal-drop group than in the control group 2 weeks after ESS(P3=0.03, Figure1E). However, there was no significant difference was found in nasal-spray group comparing with control group(P1=0.25,Figure1E). The reduction of SNOT-22 score in rh-bFGF experimental groups was higher than that in control group, but the difference was not significant(P1=0.15,P3=0.06,Figure1E,F). There was a significant decrease in rh-bFGF experimental groups compared with control group at 6 months and 1 year, but the difference was statistically significant in nasal-spray group at 6 months and nasal-drop group at 1 year(Figure2G,H).