TREATMENT OF BRONCHIOLITIS

ROLE OF INHALED β-AGONISTS IN INFANTS AND CHILDREN

Abstract

Objective: To compare the efficacy of normal saline and inhaled β-agonist in
the treatment of bronchiolitis. Study design: Randomized clinical trial. Settings: The study
was conducted in Paediatric Medicine Department, DHQ hospital/Punjab Medical College
Faisalabad. Period: 06 months from 1st October 2013 to 31st march 2014. Results: In this
study, 58.33%(n=21) in Group-A and 66.67%(n=24) in Group-B were between 0-9 months
of age, mean and sd was calculated as 11.43+3.87 months in Group-A and 10.52+3.32
months in Group-B, 52.78%(n=19) in Group-A and 61.11%(n=22) in Group-B were male while
47.22%(n=17) in Group-A and 38.89%(n=14) were females, mean clinical score in both groups
was recorded as 4.11+1.32 in Group-A and 5.65+1.89 in Group-B, comparison of efficacy in
both groups was recorded which shows 58.33%(n=21) in Group-A and 25%(n=9) in Group-B
were treated effectively while rest of 41.67%(n=15) in Group-A and 75%(n=27) in Group-B
were not treated effectively, p value was calculated as 0.008, which is statistically significant.
Conclusions: The results of this study reveal that inhaled β-agonists are more effective than
normal saline.