Allergic Rhinitis/nasal congestion/obstruction
Adult

Ears, Nose, Throat (ENT)
HealthPathways

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Useful Management Information

  • Medical management for sinonasal inflammation
    • 2 month course of:
      • intra nasal mometasone BD for 2 weeks, then nocte thereafter
      • 5 days only of BD nasal decongestant spray e.g. oxymetazoline at the start of the course
    • BD-TDS saline rinse/irrigation
    • Manage any co-existing allergies
    • Patient education
  • Consider the following:
    • CT scan paranasal sinuses
    • Short course of oral corticosteroid therapy
    • Skin prick testing/RAST/IgE (allergic rhinitis)

Minimum Referral Criteria

Does your patient meet the minimum referral criteria?
Category 1 (appointment within 30 calendar days)
  • Nasal obstruction (polyps) and any of the following:
    • unilateral
    • offensive or bloody discharge
Category 2 (appointment within 90 calendar days)
  • No category 2 criteria
Category 3 (appointment within 365 calendar days)
  • Nasal obstruction (polyps) and any of the following:
    • bilateral
    • persisting polyps despite preliminary course of oral steroids with at least 8 weeks of inhaled corticosteroid
  • Allergic rhinitis
    • failed/not responding to maximal medical management
  • Nasal obstruction and any of the following:
    • post trauma
    • deviated nasal septum
    • concha bullosa where surgical management is indicated

If your patient does not meet the minimum referral criteria

  • Assessment and management information may be found on a range of conditions at HealthPathways
  • If the patient does not meet the criteria for referral but the referring practitioner believes the patient requires specialist review, a clinical override may be requested:
    • Please explain why (e.g. warning signs or symptoms, clinical modifiers, uncertain about diagnosis, etc.)
  • Please note that your referral may not be accepted or may be redirected to another service

Essential Referral Information

  • Details of previous treatment (including systemic and topical medications prescribed) including the course and outcome of the treatment

If a specific test result is unable to be obtained due to access, financial, religious, cultural or consent reasons a Clinical Override may be requested. This reason must be clearly articulated in the body of the referral.

Additional Referral Information

  • CT scan paranasal sinuses (where available and not cause significant delay)
  • Skin prick/RAST/IgE (Allergic rhinitis)
Last updated 14 February 2024

Send Referrals To

Smart Referrals

Preferred Method
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Gold Coast Health Service District

Internal Referrals

Fax

(07) 5687 4497

Post

Booking and Referral Centre
Gold Coast University Hospital
1 Hospital Boulevard
Southport QLD 4215

Enquiries

1300 559 083

Related HealthPathways

No directly related pathways found

Service Availability

Dr Jim Hallam
Medical Director Ear, Nose, Throat (ENT)

Facilities

Gold Coast University Hospital

If you would like to send a named referral, please address it to the specialist listed above, who will allocate a suitably qualified specialist to see the patient. Alternatively, you can view a full list of our specialists.

Gold Coast Health - For Clinicians
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