[Comparative clinical study of dexamethasone vs. nebulized salbutamol in acute bronchiolitis]. / Uso de dexametasona y salbutamol nebulizados en bronquiolitis aguda. Estudio clínico comparativo.

OBJECTIVE: Asess the efficacy of nebulized salbutamol and dexamethasone compared with nebulized salbutamol, in patients with bronchiolitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A blinded clinical trial was performed with 49 patients between 1-18 months diagnosed with bronchiolitis with three days or less of disease evolution. Participant's parents signed an informed consent and patients did not receive prior medication. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups: nebulized salbutamol or salbutamol plus dexamethasone, which they received every four hours during twenty-four hours. We measured heart and respiratory rate; respiratory distress index, oxygen saturation, and Silverman Andersen scores. RESULTS: No significant differences were found between groups for treatment response; but the frequency of hospital release at 24 hrs was significant among groups; 75 vs 96 % respectively (p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: The administration of salbutamol plus dexamethasone is more effective in the control of respiratory distress in children with bronchiolitis compared with the use of salbutamol alone.

Uso de dexametasona y salbutamol nebulizados en bronquiolitis aguda: estudio clínico comparativo / Comparative clinical study of dexamethasone vs. nebulized salbutamol in acute bronchiolitis

Objetivo: Evaluar la eficacia de salbutamol y dexametasona nebulizados comparados con salbutamol solo en pacientes con bronquiolitis aguda. Material y métodos: Estudio clínico controlado, aleatorizado, en pacientes de 1 a 18 meses de edad con diagnóstico de bronquiolitis aguda y evolución menor de tres días. Se asignaron dos grupos: 1) salbutamol (n = 24) o 2) salbutamol más dexametasona (n = 25) administrado por micronebulizaciones cada cuatro horas por 24 horas. Se midieron las frecuencias cardiaca y respiratoria, la gravedad del cuadro mediante el Respiratory Distress Assigment Index, el Silvermann-Andersen, saturación de O2 y tiempo de desaparición de la dificultad respiratoria y frecuencia de altas en 24 horas. Resultados: No se encontraron diferencias significativas entre los grupos de estudio, excepto en la frecuencia de altas hospitalarias en las primeras 24 horas, 75 vs 96 % p < 0.04 respectivamente. Conclusiones: La aplicación de salbutamol más dexametasona es más rápida para controlar la dificultad respiratoria en niños con bronquiolitis aguda en comparación con la aplicación de salbutamol solo.

OBJECTIVE: Asess the efficacy of nebulized salbutamol and dexamethasone compared with nebulized salbutamol, in patients with bronchiolitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A blinded clinical trial was performed with 49 patients between 1-18 months diagnosed with bronchiolitis with three days or less of disease evolution. Participant's parents signed an informed consent and patients did not receive prior medication. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups: nebulized salbutamol or salbutamol plus dexamethasone, which they received every four hours during twenty-four hours. We measured heart and respiratory rate; respiratory distress index, oxygen saturation, and Silverman Andersen scores. RESULTS: No significant differences were found between groups for treatment response; but the frequency of hospital release at 24 hrs was significant among groups; 75 vs 96 % respectively (p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: The administration of salbutamol plus dexamethasone is more effective in the control of respiratory distress in children with bronchiolitis compared with the use of salbutamol alone.

[Efficacy of two Helicobacter pylori eradication treatments in children with recurrent abdominal pain]. / Eficacia de dos esquemas de erradicación de Helicobacter pylori en niños con dolor abdominal recurrente.

OBJECTIVE: To compare clinical and bacteriologic efficacy of two therapeutic trials to eradicate Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in two series of pediatric patients with recurrent abdominal pain (RAP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: n = 36 children with RAP-associated H. pylori infection. Age 9.8 +/- 3.1 years, 19 boys and 17 girls. Clinical and bacteriologic efficacy of two therapeutic trials was compared: Group A (1996-1997), n = 9, amoxicillin, bismuth subsalicilate, and metronidazol, and group B (1991-1993), n = 27, omeprazol, amoxicillin, and clarithromycin. Initially and post-treatment, H. pylori evaluation was carried out with upper endoscopy and gastric biopsies. For statistics, we used Student t test, chi2, Fisher test, and Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance (alpha = 0.05). RESULTS: We found that 33/36 cases had gastritis at endoscopy, two with duodenal ulcer; nodular gastritis was observed in more than one half of total cases. All cases fulfilled histologic criteria of gastritis according to Sydney Score. In group A eradication was achieved in 28.6%, while in group B eradication rose to 77.8% (p < 0.05). In group A, 8/9 and in group B 15/27 persisted with RAP (p = 0.113). CONCLUSIONS: High frequency of abnormal and histologic findings was observed in the series presented on children with RAP and H. pylori. Eradication efficacy in the omeprazol/amoxicillin/clarithromycin group was higher when compared with bismuth subsalicilate/amoxicillin/metronidazol trial. This efficacy is comparable to pediatric series treated with the same therapeutic trial.