• Jianpu Wang, Liming Zhang, and Sten M Walther.
• Section of Disaster Medicine, Department of Biomedicine and Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Linköping, SE 581 85 Linköping, Sweden. jiawa@ibk.liu.se
• Intensive Care Med. 2002 Mar 1; 28 (3): 352-7.

ObjectiveTo examine the time window between injury and treatment during which nebulized corticosteroid lessens lung injury induced by chlorine gas inhalation.DesignAn experimental laboratory study.SettingAcademic research laboratory.SubjectsTwenty-four juvenile female pigs.InterventionsTwenty-four mechanically ventilated pigs were exposed to chlorine gas (400 PPM in air) for 20 min, then divided into four groups (six in each group). Nebulized budesonide (BUD) was given immediately (BUD 0 min), 30 min (BUD 30 min) or 60 min (BUD 60 min) after chlorine gas exposure. Six pigs receiving nebulized saline served as controls.Measurements And Main ResultsHemodynamics, gas exchange and lung mechanics were evaluated for 5 h after chlorine gas exposure. All animals had an immediate increase in airway and pulmonary artery pressure and a sharp drop of arterial oxygenation. The mean arterial oxygen tension of BUD 0 min and BUD 30 min animals was significantly higher than in the control and the BUD 60 min groups ( p<0.001). The recovery of lung compliance in the BUD 0 min and the BUD 30 min groups was significantly more rapid than in the control and the BUD 60 min groups ( p<0.001). The pulmonary wet to dry weight ratio was greater in the control group than in the BUD-treated groups ( p<0.05).ConclusionTreatment with inhaled budesonide immediately or 30 min after chlorine gas lung injury had similar positive effects on symptoms and signs of pulmonary injury, whereas treatment delayed for 60 min was less effective.

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