Elsevier

The Lancet

Volume 333, Issue 8652, 24 June 1989, Pages 1418-1420
The Lancet

NEBULISED SALBUTAMOL WITH AND WITHOUT IPRATROPIUM BROMIDE IN ACUTE AIRFLOW OBSTRUCTION

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(89)90126-8Get rights and content

Abstract

103 patients with acute airflow obstruction (56 asthma, 47 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD]) completed a double-blind trial of nebulised bronchodilator treatment in a hospital accident and emergency department. Each patient was randomised to receive either 10 mg of salbutamol nebuliser solution in 2 ml of saline or 10 mg of salbutamol in 2 ml (0·5 mg) of preservative-free ipratropium bromide. Peak flow rate (PFR) was recorded before treatment and 1 hour after beginning nebulised treatment. In 23 asthmatic patients given salbutamol alone PFR rose by a mean 31% 1 hour after treatment whereas in 33 such patients given combined treatment it rose by a mean 77% (95% confidence interval for the difference 8-84%). Patients whose PFR was below 140 1/min at entry gained maximum benefit from the combined treatment. For COPD patients the PFR rise was almost identical for both treatments. In acute asthma the immediate PFR response to a mixture of salbutamol and ipratropium bromide was better than the response to nebulised salbutamol alone. For COPD patients, the two treatments were of equal benefit.

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