• Ann Emerg Med · Sep 1995

    Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial

    Comparative trial of continuous nebulization versus metered-dose inhaler in the treatment of acute bronchospasm.

    • M A Levitt, E F Gambrioli, and J B Fink.
    • Department of Emergency Medicine, Highland General Hospital, Oakland, California, USA.
    • Ann Emerg Med. 1995 Sep 1; 26 (3): 273-7.

    Study ObjectiveTo compare continuous nebulization with the use of a metered-dose inhaler (MDI) with spacer device for delivery of albuterol in acute bronchospastic episodes in the emergency department.DesignProspective, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial.SettingUrban ED with a 28,000 annual census.ParticipantsPatients older than 18 years of age presenting to the ED with an acute bronchospastic episode.InterventionAfter conducting evaluation and collecting baseline data, we treated each patient with a continuous-flow nebulizer set to deliver 15 mg/hour of albuterol or a placebo by face mask. Subsequently, each patient received four puffs (albuterol or placebo) from an MDI with a spacer device. The four MDI puffs were followed by 5 minutes on nebulization, and this sequence was continued until predetermined therapeutic end points were reached or side effects developed. The optimal MDI dose was then determined and repeated each hour for the 3-hour time period of the study.ResultsRepeated-measures ANOVA testing revealed statistically and clinically significant improvements over time within each treatment group in peak flow (F = 3.864, P = .0057), Borg score (F = 14.77, P = .0001), pulse (F = 9.642, P = .0001), and respiratory rate (F = 3.081, P = .0093). However, no significant differences could be detected between treatment groups over time except for systolic blood pressure (F = 8.231, P = .0141), and this change was not considered clinically significant.ConclusionOn the basis of the findings of this study, we conclude that continuous nebulization is equally effective as MDI with spacer device for delivery of albuterol to treat acute bronchospastic episodes in the ED. Each method of delivery offers advantages. Each ED should decide which modality to use on the basis of its own resources.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…

Want more great medical articles?

Keep up to date with a free trial of metajournal, personalized for your practice.
1,694,794 articles already indexed!

We guarantee your privacy. Your email address will not be shared.