Efficacy of the Ipratropium Bromide in Moderate and Severe Asthma Attack in Children

Abstract

Introduction: Standard therapy for acute asthma attack includes beta 2 agonists, O2and systemic corticosteroids. Althoughthere is a widespread usage of this therapy protocol in recent years, as some of the children still need hospitalization becauseof incomplete responses, adjunctive therapy measures should be considered. We planned this study protocol to assess theeffects of ipratropium bromide (IB) for moderate and severe childhood asthma attacks.Methods: All of the consecutive 50 children admitted to the Pediatric Emergency Service of İstanbul University CerrahpaşaMedicine Faculty were included in our study. All patients received short duration ?2-adrenergic agonists and methylpred-nisolone consistent with current practice guidelines; then, they were randomized into two groups. While the first groupreceived IB (250 ?g/dosage) three times with 20 minutes of intervals, the second group received serum physiologic. Beforeeach therapy regimen and at the 72nd hour, clinical asthma scores (CAS) and peak expiratory flow rates (PEF) of the patientswere screened and their hospitalization status was recorded.Results: There was not any significant difference in the hospitalization status of the two groups, which included patientsaged three to 18 years. Clinical asthma scores and PEFR of the first and second group of patients had a statistically significantdifference beginning from the 40th minute.Discussion and Conclusion: In our study, we reported that IB added to the standard therapy regimen of moderate andsevere childhood asthma attacks was efficient and did not have any adverse effect.