• Pankaj Gupta, Anju Aggarwal, Piyush Gupta, and K K Sharma.
• Department of Pediatrics, University College of Medical Sciences, Delhi 110 095, India.
• Indian Pediatr. 2008 Jul 1;45(7):547-53.

ObjectivesTo determine the efficacy of oral salbutamol for providing symptomatic relief in mild bronchiolitis.DesignRandomized double-blind placebo controlled trial.SettingPediatric Outpatient Department of a tertiary care hospital.Subjects140 infants (of 310 approached) with a clinical diagnosis of acute bronchiolitis with respiratory rate or= 95% in room air, no or mild accessory muscle use, and respiratory distress assessment instrument (RDAI) score InterventionOral salbutamol (0.1 mg/kg/dose) (n=70) or placebo (n=70) three times a day for 7 days or till complete resolution of symptoms,whichever was earlier.Outcome VariablesTime for resolution of illness (ROI), duration of fever, cough,coryza, noisy breathing, time to achieve normal feeding and normal sleep, and frequency of hospitalization and adverse effects.ResultsMedian (SE, 95% CI) duration of resolution of overall illness was similar in the two groups [6 (0, 5 to 7) d in the salbutamol group vs. 5 (1, 4 to 6) days in placebo group; P=0.21]. There was no significant difference in mean duration of fever, cough, coryza, noisy breathing, time to achieve normal feeding and normal sleep; and frequency of hospitalization or adverse effects, between the two groups.However, tremors were observed in 5 infants in the salbutamol group.ConclusionOral salbutamol is not superior to placebo in reducing the duration of symptoms in mild cases of acute bronchiolitis in children.

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