Aspirin desensitization therapy

Aspirin desensitization therapy is a treatment for aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD), a condition that affects your sinuses and lungs. AERD causes chronic inflammation that leads to asthma, nasal polyps, and other symptoms. Taking aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) makes symptoms worse. Many people try multiple treatments without success, but AERD experts have developed a technique that involves sinus surgery followed by aspirin desensitization to effectively treat the disease.

Home to some of the world’s foremost AERD experts, the Penn AERD Center is the only clinic of its kind in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. We have a multispecialty team that includes ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialists, surgeons, and allergists. Our providers have treated thousands of people, and we perform hundreds of AERD surgeries a year. By providing sinus surgery and aspirin desensitization therapy, we can help you find lasting relief with fewer asthma attacks and improved AERD symptoms.

This specialized therapy treats the underlying cause of AERD. You may be diagnosed with AERD if your respiratory symptoms occur suddenly in adulthood and if they worsen when you take aspirin or other NSAIDs. AERD causes asthma and nasal polyps that quickly regrow after traditional treatment. You may also experience nasal congestion, chronic sinus infections (sinusitis), loss of smell, and intolerance to alcohol. 

Your doctor will work with you to control your asthma symptoms before you have endoscopic sinus surgery to remove all nasal polyps. This surgery is followed by a course of low-dose prednisone and a procedure to thoroughly clean your nose and sinuses (debridement).

About six to eight weeks after sinus surgery, you’ll be gradually introduced to increasing doses of aspirin over two days. You’ll begin with an NSAID nasal spray and progress to taking oral aspirin at higher strengths until you’ve reached the full dose. Your health care provider will check your breathing and oxygen levels throughout the process, and any symptoms that occur are treated right away. It’s an outpatient procedure, so you can go home in the evening and come back the next day.

You’ll need to continue to take aspirin daily to lower the risk of nasal polyps returning and to reduce other symptoms. If you don’t take aspirin for more than 48 to 72 hours, your symptoms can come back, and you’ll need to repeat the aspirin desensitization protocol to become symptom-free again.

Groundbreaking AERD care, close to home

Penn Medicine’s AERD Center is a globally recognized leader with specialists who have decades of experience providing advanced treatments. Studies have confirmed that complete sinus surgery followed by aspirin desensitization therapy can lead to dramatic results that improve your quality of life. Our team of providers coordinate medical and surgical treatment options to deliver exceptional care for people with AERD.

We’re also active researchers in the field, studying therapies like aspirin desensitization. The care we provide is backed by research to be as effective as possible.