Clinical Efficacy of Salbutamol Delivered Via Nebulizer Versus Metered Dose Inhaler with Spacer and Mask in Wheezing Children”

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of salbutamol administered by nebulizer versus metered dose inhaler with mask and spacer in wheezing children study design: Randomized clinical trial place and Duration: National Institute of Child Health, Karachi from 15^th February to 14^th August 2022 Methodology: There were 128 patients overall with acute wheeze. A history of wheezing duration was obtained. Two groups were formed. Salbutamol was administered through a nebulizer to Group-A. Salbutamol was administered to Group B using a metering inhaler, spacer, and mask. Clinical effectiveness was assessed. A p-value of 0.05 was considered significant when comparing the clinical efficacy of the two groups using the chi-square test. Results: A total of 54.7% male and 45.3% female patients made up group A. There were 42.2% female patients and 57.8% male patients in group B. Groups A and B had mean ages of 2.93 ±1.37 and 3.23± 1.15, years respectively. The average wheezing time for groups A and B was 1.46 ±1.08 and 1.10 ±0.50 hours, respectively. Clinical effectiveness in our study was 95.3% in group B and 81.3% in group A. Clinical efficacy was significantly associated across research groups. Conclusion: Clinical efficacy of the nebulizer was significantly low as compared to metered dose inhaler with a mask and spacer.