Efficacy of Nebulized Hypertonic Saline in the Treatment of Acute Bronchiolitis

A Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate Efficacy of Nebulized Hypertonic Saline vs. Normal Saline in the Treatment of Hospitalized Children With Bronchiolitis

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of hypertonic saline vs. normal saline in the treatment of infants hospitalized for bronchiolitis, regarding length of hospital stay, oxygen requirements and clinical outcome.

Despite bronchiolitis is a very frequent disease among infants, there are still controversies regarding its treatment. Hypertonic saline has been proposed as useful treatment in these children, bur information is still controversial.

The aim is to asses that using Nebulized Hypertonic Saline with bronchodilators (albuterol) may reduce the days of hospitalization and improve clinical outcomes in patients with acute bronchiolitis, compared with using Normal Saline with albuterol.

Inclusion criteria:

• Infants aged 1 to 24 months, hospitalized for first episode of bronchiolitis, with severity score ≥ 5 points and oxygen saturation ≥ 97%.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Chronic respiratory or cardiovascular disease, respiratory failure.