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Real‐life comparison of three general paediatric wards showed similar outcomes for children with bronchiolitis despite different treatment regimens
Author(s) -
Shmueli Einat,
Berger Tal,
Herman Yonatan A.,
Chodick Gabriel,
Rom Eran,
Bilavsky Efraim,
AshkenaziHoffnung Liat,
Ashkenazi Shai,
Amir Jacob,
Prais Dario
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.13921
Subject(s) - medicine , bronchiolitis , hypertonic saline , pediatrics , regimen , saline , acute bronchiolitis , anesthesia , leukocytosis , hospital admission , emergency medicine , surgery , respiratory system
Aim This study evaluated the effectiveness of three different treatments for bronchiolitis in a tertiary paediatric facility. Methods Patients with bronchiolitis who were younger than two years of age and were randomly allocated to three general wards at Schneider Children's Medical Center, Israel, after admission were included. Different treatment protocols in the wards were retrospectively compared. Results The study comprised 286 children. The clinical and laboratory parameters on admission were similar between the wards. In Ward C where nebulised hypertonic saline was infrequently administered (6.7%), the mean number of days with oxygen saturation under 92% and the meanlength of hospital stay (1.8 and 3.8 days) were significantly lower than Ward A (2.8 and 5.3 days) and Ward B, (2.9 and 4.7 days) where nebulised hypertonic saline was given more frequently (38.7%–74.7%). Multivariate analysis indicated that low saturation on admission, leukocytosis and use of nebulised hypertonic saline or adrenalin were independent predictors of a longer period of desaturation and hospital stay. Conclusion Different treatment protocols for bronchiolitis were used in three paediatric wards in this real‐life study. No treatment regimen proved superior. Inhalations of hypertonic saline or adrenaline were associated with a longer hospital stay.