Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2013 Mar;148(3):374-82.
doi: 10.1177/0194599812471817. Epub 2013 Jan 8.

Use of specific neuromodulators in the treatment of chronic, idiopathic cough: a systematic review

Seth M Cohen  1 , Stephanie Misono
Affiliations
Review

Use of specific neuromodulators in the treatment of chronic, idiopathic cough: a systematic review

Seth M Cohen et al. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2013 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: The goal of this systematic review was to examine the evidence for the use of the neuromodulating agents, amitriptyline, gabapentin, pregabalin, and baclofen, in the management of chronic, idiopathic cough patients.

Data sources: Online databases, including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Review, and Web of Science, and publications cited in bibliographies were used.

Review methods: Literature was searched by the 2 authors with a priori criteria for study selection.

Results: Eight relevant articles were identified, including 2 randomized controlled trials, 2 prospective cohort or case-series designs with consecutive patients, 1 retrospective case series of consecutive patients, 1 retrospective case series whose consecutive status was not known, and 2 case reports of 6 and 2 patients, respectively. Improvements in cough-specific quality of life were noted in the randomized controlled trials. Cough severity was reduced in studies that measured this outcome measure. In the remaining studies, cough symptoms were less after neuromodulator treatment.

Conclusion: Benefit from neuromodulator treatment with amitriptyline, gabapentin, pregabalin, and baclofen in chronic, idiopathic cough patients was demonstrated. Further investigations using objective and subjective outcome measures are needed as well as studies exploring optimal dose, length of treatment, and relapse rates posttreatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures

Competing interests: None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart for study selection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Barbee RA, Halonen M, Kalktenborn WT, Burrows B. A longitudinal study of respiratory symptoms in a community population sample. Chest. 1991;99:20–26. - PubMed
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2009 summary tables. www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ahcd/namcs_summary/2009_namcs_web_tables.pdf. Accessed September 5, 2012.
    1. Consumer Healthcare Products Association. OTC sales by category—2008–2011. http://chpa-info.org/pressroom/Sales_Category.aspx. Accessed September 5, 2012.
    1. Brignall K, Jayaraman B, Birring SS. Quality of life and psychosocial aspects of cough. Lung. 2008;371:1364–1374. - PubMed
    1. Raj AA, Birring SS. Clinical assessment of chronic cough severity. Pulm Pharmacol Ther. 2007;20:334–337. - PubMed