Abstract
Chronic throat symptoms such as cough, dysphonia, globus sensation,
throat clearing and sensation of mucus in the throat are prevalent and
bothersome symptoms, which are now understood to cause significant
morbidity when untreated. A dilemma for clinicians is the frequent lack
of organic or structural disease explanation for these non-specific
symptoms, even with often multidisciplinary assessment. Whilst
associations to reflux or functional syndromes are often implied, these
diagnostic paradigms lack interdisciplinary consensus and rely on
empirical practices in the absence of clear disease links. The role of
respiratory allergy or respiratory allergy sensitisation in contributing
to presentations involving unexplained chronic throat symptoms (UCTS)
remains poorly defined, but is emerging as a potentially undervalued
relationship. For the clinician, clinical considerations and potential
therapeutic strategies for the patient with UCTS and respiratory allergy
disease or sensitisation remain ambiguous concepts, devoid of consensus
or guidelines. This scoping review addresses the intersection of
respiratory allergy and chronic throat complaints, offering an
up-to-date assessment of this potential relationship, postulated symptom
mechanisms and evidence to guide therapeutic decisions.