PEDIATRICS Vol. 86 No. 4 October 1990, pp. 509-513
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Nebulized Albuterol in Acute Childhood Asthma: Comparison of Two Doses

Suzanne Schuh MD, FRCP(C)1, Michael J. Reider MD, FRCP(C)1, Gerald Canny MBChB, FRCP(C)1, Emily Pender MD1, Thomas Forbes 1, Yok K. Tan PhD1, David Bailey PhD1, and Henry Levison MD, FRCP(C)1

1 From the Emergency and Chest Divisions, Department of Paediatrics and the Department of Biochemistry, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, and the Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

Thirty-three children and adolescents from 5 to 17 years of age with moderate to severe acute asthma were given nebulized albuterol therapy in either a high (0.30 mg/kg body weight) or standard (0.15 mg/kg) dose administered at three hourly intervals in a randomized double-blind study. The high-dose hourly regimen resulted in significantly greater improvement in the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1). Furthermore, patients receiving the high dose showed a steady improvement in the FEV1 from the start to the end of the study, whereas FEV1 plateaued after the second dose in the standard-dose group. Although a rise in heart rate and a fall in serum potassium level occurred, neither of these changes nor other side effects were different in the two groups. The high-dose therapy resulted in much higher serum albuterol levels than the standard dose. There was no correlation between the drug levels and side effects or initial and subsequent FEV1. It is concluded that occasional hourly high-dose albuterol therapy should be considered for some pediatric patients with acute asthma of moderate severity, especially those who relapse between doses.

Key Words: asthma • albuterol

Submitted on June 21, 1989
Accepted on October 18, 1989




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