@article{c525c5168f924519900bd25dad087bd9,
title = "Randomized trial of salbutamol in acute bronchiolitis",
abstract = "To test whether nebulized salbutamol (albuterol) is safe and efficacious for the treatment of young children with acute bronchiolitis, we enrolled 83 children (median age 6 months, range 1 to 21 months) in a randomized, double-blind clinical trial. Participants received two treatments at 30-minute intervals of either nebulized salbutamol (0.10 mg/kg in 2 ml 0.9% saline solution) or a similar volume of 0.9% saline solution placebo. Outcome measures were the respiratory rate, pulse oximetry, and a clinical score based on the degree of wheezing and retractions. Patients in the salbutamol arm had significantly greater improvement in clinical scores after the initial treatment (p=0.04). There was no difference between the groups in oxygen saturation (p=0.74); patients treated with salbutamol had a small increase in heart rate after two treatments (159±16 vs 151±16; p=0.03). We conclude that salbutamol is safe and effective for the initial treatment of young children with acute bronchiolitis.",
author = "Klassen, {Terry P.} and Rowe, {Peter C.} and Terry Sutcliffe and Ropp, {Leland J.} and W. McDowell and Li, {Marllyn M.}",
note = "Funding Information: Whether infants with acute bronchiolitis should be treated with nebulized salbutamol or other B2-adrenergic drugs has been debated for more than 20 years. 1{"}3 Recent work has emphasized the limited validity of pulmonary function tests in wheezing infants, 4{"}6 raising questions about earlier studies that demonstrated either no improvement or a deterioration in respiratory status after the administration of aor ~-adrenergic agents, i; 7-13 The development of a reliable scoring system for infants with bronchiolitis, TM similar to a scoring system that correlates well with tests of pulmonary function in older children with asthma,15 provided a means of reexamining the safety and efficacy of salbutamol with the use of common clinical features of the disease to measure outcome. We report the results of a randomized trial designed to test the hypothesis Supported by grant No. 01288N from the Emergency Services Division, Ministry of Health of Ontario, and by a Career Scientist Award (Dr. Rowe) from the Ministry Of Health of Ontario. Submitted for publication Sept. 21, 1990; accepted Nov. 16, 1990. Reprint requests: Terry P. Klassen, MD, Division of Emergency Medicine, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, 401 Smyth Rd., Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8L1, Canada. 9/25/26840 that nebulized salbutamol would provide greater short-term improvement in respiratory status than a placebo in young children with bronchiolitis.",
year = "1991",
month = may,
doi = "10.1016/S0022-3476(05)80051-4",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "118",
pages = "807--811",
journal = "Journal of Pediatrics",
issn = "0022-3476",
publisher = "Mosby Inc.",
number = "5",
}