An Application of Nasal Drug Delivery for Management of Head and Neck Diseases from the Perspective of Persian Medicine

Nowadays, nasal drug delivery (NDD) is much considered as an appropriate alternative method instead of oral and parenteral injection. These approaches were presented in Persian Medicine (PM) as an important way of drug administration especially for neurological disorders. The aim of this study is to introduce types of NDD from the viewpoint of PM for head and neck diseases in the period of Islamic civilization.

The parts related to head and neck diseases were searched in the main PM reference books from the 3rd to the 13th century. Documents related to study keywords including Inkibab, Bakhur, Zaroor, Saoot, Shamoom, Shiaf, Atoos, Ghavali, Lakhlakhah, Nashoogh, Nafookh and their similarities were copied and studied line-by-line. The collected documents were categorized by timeframe, the method mentioned and type of disease. 

Ethical Considerations:

Honesty and trustfulness were observed by referring texts to the refrences used.

NDD forms including solids were classified into nasal insufflation (Nafookh, Atoos), splashes (Zarur) and dough (wax) includind suppository and wick, liquids were as nasal dibbling (Saoot) and liquid sniff formulations (Nashoogh) and gaseous forms were as fumigation (Bakhoor), vapor bath (Inkibab), inhalation (Lakhlakhah), aromatic agents (Shamoom, Ghavali). Saoot was used more than the other methods and the illness which most recommended was headache. Discussion and

NDD were advised in PM for several diseases. This method with a lot of benefits like easy to use, often painless, affordable and high efficiency and some side effects such as nasal mucosal injury, limitation in drug transmission through the nose and no drug withdrawal after usage has high potential for future researches.