Abstract:
Aim: Fibromyalgia syndrome (FM) is soft tissue rheumatism characterized by chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain. Central
sensitization–related neuroaudiological symptoms are frequently seen in patients with FM. The aim of this study was to investigate
the duration of nasal mucociliary clearance in FM patients and its relation with pain.
Material and Methods: A prospective case–control study was carried out in Otorhinolaryngology Clinic. Forty four (N=44) females
were enrolled in the study. Twenty two (22) FM patients with age (p=0.5) and body mass index (BMI) (p=0.072) matched healthy
controls were included in the study. The FM diagnosis has been determined by clinical examination according to the American
College of Rheumatology (ACR) 2010 criteria. All study participants underwent measurements of nasal mucociliary clearance
duration by the same individual.
Results: The mean age was 38.7 ± 1.8 years in FM group, while it was 37.05 ± 1.8 years in control. The mean duration of nasal
mucociliary clearance were 8.06 ± 0.5 minutes in FM group, and 5.86 ± 0.4 minutes in control. The duration of nasal mucociliary
clearance was longer in FM patients than controls (p=0.0005). The duration of mucociliary clearance was found positively correlated
with visual analog scale (VAS) score (r=0.423; p=0.005).
Conclusion: There was a significant prolonged nasal mucociliary clearance duration inpatients with FMand positively correlated
with pain score. Clinically, women with FM should be followed up for possible adverse effects of prolonged mucociliary clearance
duration such as sinonasal and middle ear infections.
