Abstract

Objective: To compare the efficacy of normal saline and inhaled β-agonist inthe treatment of bronchiolitis. Study design: Randomized clinical trial. Settings: The studywas conducted in Paediatric Medicine Department, DHQ hospital/Punjab Medical CollegeFaisalabad. Period: 06 months from 1st October 2013 to 31st march 2014. Results: In thisstudy, 58.33%(n=21) in Group-A and 66.67%(n=24) in Group-B were between 0-9 monthsof age, mean and sd was calculated as 11.43+3.87 months in Group-A and 10.52+3.32months in Group-B, 52.78%(n=19) in Group-A and 61.11%(n=22) in Group-B were male while47.22%(n=17) in Group-A and 38.89%(n=14) were females, mean clinical score in both groupswas recorded as 4.11+1.32 in Group-A and 5.65+1.89 in Group-B, comparison of efficacy inboth groups was recorded which shows 58.33%(n=21) in Group-A and 25%(n=9) in Group-Bwere treated effectively while rest of 41.67%(n=15) in Group-A and 75%(n=27) in Group-Bwere not treated effectively, p value was calculated as 0.008, which is statistically significant.Conclusions: The results of this study reveal that inhaled β-agonists are more effective thannormal saline.