There have been questions raised about whether the sinus cocktail need be administered via a shot or whether it would be just as effective if the separate components were taken orally. An example of this type of questioning can be found here. See a portion of the exchange below.

5/30/2008 RE: Sinus Cocktail Shots for Upper Respiratory Tract Symptoms

Q: I am a pharmacist that has tried to find the rationale for the use of "sinus cocktail shots". These cocktails generally consist of a combination of a steroid, an antihistamine and sometimes an antibiotic.  Several Family Practice physicians in the community give these to patients with acute allergic rhinitis and I feel better prophylaxis is needed.  Is there any clinical literature to support the use of these injections or does teh AAAAI have a position on this topic?

A: I am very familiar with the use of "the sinus cocktail" for the treatment of upper respiratory tract infections.  There are 392,000 references to this on "Google," but no pertinent references found to this term through "PubMed" and the Journal of Allergy, Asthma, and Clinical Immunology.  This gives some indication as to the specific documentation of the role of "sinus cocktails" in the treatment of upper respiratory tract symptoms.

To my knowledge there are no studies investigating the efficacy of this practice, and no official position statement from the AAAAI in this regard.

As you know, each ingredient found in the "sinus cocktail injection" can be administered separately by mouth.  I know of no study comparing these routes of administration.

Thus, in summary, there are no data of which I am aware dealing with this issue, and there is no official position statement that I could find from our professional organizations mentioning it.

However, to solicit another opinion in this regard, I have requested Dr. Eli Meltzer, who is an internationally known expert in diseases of the sinuses, to give us his thoughts on the issue.  In the meantime, I am sending you this letter in lieu of receipt of his response.  When I do hear from him, I will forward his response to you as well.

Thank you again for your inquiry, and I hope this response has been of help to you.