Comparison of Mean Length of Hospital Stay in Children with Bronchiolitis Nebulized with 3% Hypertonic Saline with versus without Epinephrine

Abstract

Background: Bronchiolitis is a common lung infection in young children and infants. It causes swelling and irritation and a buildup of mucus in the small airways of the lung. Supportive care, extra oxygen, and intravenous fluids are all part of the current therapy strategy. It has been demonstrated that nebulizing 3% hypertonic saline may enhance mucociliary clearance. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the mean length of hospital stay in children with bronchiolitis is significantly impacted by the addition of epinephrine to 3% hypertonic saline nebulization.

Methodology: We performed a randomized, controlled trial in 180 children hospitalized with bronchiolitis from June 2022 to Jan 2023. Infants were randomly assigned into two groups to receive nebulized 3% hypertonic saline either alone or combined with epinephrine. The primary outcome measure will be the mean length of hospital stay.

Results: The study enrolled 180 children with bronchiolitis into two groups: Group 1 with epinephrine (n=50) and Group 2 without epinephrine (n=40). The primary efficacy outcome showed that Group 1 had a shorter average hospital stay of 5.0556 days compared to Group 2, which had an average hospital stay of 7.1000 days.

Conclusion: In our study setting, we observed that nebulized epinephrine combined with 3% hypertonic saline led to a significant reduction in hospital stay for children with bronchiolitis when compared to using 3% hypertonic saline alone. Additionally, in both groups, males tended to have shorter hospital stays while more females experienced longer stays.