Background: Acute bronchiolitis is an acute inflammatory injury of the bronchioles that is usually caused by a viral infection (most commonly respiratory syncytial virus and human metapneumovirus). This condition may occur at any age with peak incidence between 2 and 6 months old. In the present study we aimed to assess the efficacy of nebulized magnesium sulfate versus inhaled budesonide in treatment of infants hospitalized with acute bronchiolitis.
Patients and Methods: The study was conducted on 60 infants with moderate to severe bronchiolitis. They were randomly assigned into three groups, group A treated with inhaled budesonide plus nebulized B-2 agonist and group B treated with nebulized magnesium sulfate plus B-2 agonist and group C (control group) treated with nebulized B-2 agonist alone, all the patients were subjected to a complete history and clinical examination, and were investigated with emphasis on CBC with differential, CRP, ABG and chest X-ray. Length of hospital stay and duration of manifestations were recorded.
Results: Our study showed that the three groups were comparable as regard sex and age (p-value 0.935, 0.985 respectively).There was insignificant differences between three groups as regard main complain, past history, family history of atopy and duration of illness (p –value 0.891, 0.934, 0.926, 0.998 respectively).There was insignificant differences between the three groups as regard respiratory rate on admission (p-value 0.864) but after treatment group B showed a significant improvement compared to the other two groups (p-value <0.001).There was insignificant differences between the three groups as regard heart rate on admission (p-value 0.952) but after treatment group B showed a significant improvement compared to the other two groups (p-value 0.001).Patients in group B had the higher improvement in O2 saturation after treatment (p-value <0.001), as well as the best improvement as regard respiratory distress after treatment compared to the other groups (p-value <0.001).