A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL TO DETERMINE THE EFFICACY OF 0.9% SALINE VS HYPERTONIC (3%) SALINE FOR ACUTE VIRAL BRONCHIOLITIS

Aim: To compare the length of hospital stay (primary) and improvement of clinical (secondary) severity indices in children with bronchiolitis nebulized with 3% hypertonic saline or 0.9% saline. Design: Randomized double-blind controlled trial. Place and Duration: In the Pediatric department of Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar for six-months duration from January 2020 to July 2020. Methods: Hospitalized children (1-24 months) with moderate acute bronchiolitis were included. Nebulize 4 ml of 3% hypertonic saline or 4 ml of 0.9% saline with 2.5 mg of salbutamol at 4-hour intervals until the patient is ready for discharge. Results: Baseline characteristics were similar in the two groups. The median clinical grade on admission was 6 (IQR-1) in both groups. Clinical severity markers monitored 12 hours to discharge (132 hours) showed no statistically significant differences in the 3% and 0.9% salt groups. The mean hospital stay (time to the predefined clinical severity score Conclusion: Nebulized 3% saline does not exceed 0.9% saline in infants with clinically diagnosed acute bronchiolitis. Key words: nebulization with 3% saline, bronchiolitis, management