Trial of Epinephrine and Albuterol in Bronchiolitis

Summary

The purpose of this study is to see which of the two most common drugs used to treat bronchiolitis works better. A child's participation in this study is expected to last less than 4 hours. Approximately 600 patients will be recruited to participate in this study at Kern Medical Center (KMC). Bronchiolitis is a very common lung infection in babies. There are many drugs used to treat this disease but nobody knows which one, if any, works the best. Two of the most commonly used drugs are albuterol and epinephrine. These are both drugs given during breathing treatments with oxygen and a mask. We are doing this study to see which of these drugs works better or if they are both equally good. The study works as follows: after the consent process the baby gets three treatments. * Nebulizer 1 (Treatment) * Treatment + 30 minutes (approximately) Nebulizer 2 * Treatment + 60 minutes (approximately) Nebulizer 3 * Treatment + 120 minutes (approximately) The baby will be reevaluated and either discharged home or revert to standard therapy. If the baby is discharged directly from the emergency department (E.D.), we will call you in three days time to see how he/she is doing.

Timeline

Start

2003-11

Primary completion

—

Completion

2006-05

Outcome

Met primary endpoint

paper albuterol were significantly more likely than patients receiving epinephrine to be successfully discharged (aRR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.02 to 1.36). PMID 18370982 ↗

Publications

• Background Walsh P, Rothenberg SJ, O'Doherty S, Hoey H, Healy R. A validated clinical model to predict the need for admission and length of stay in children with acute bronchiolitis. Eur J Emerg Med. 2004 Oct;11(5):265-72. doi: 10.1097/00063110-200410000-00005.
• Walsh P, Caldwell J, McQuillan KK, Friese S, Robbins D, Rothenberg SJ. Comparison of nebulized epinephrine to albuterol in bronchiolitis. Acad Emerg Med. 2008 Apr;15(4):305-13. doi: 10.1111/j.1553-2712.2008.00064.x.

Drugs

Indications