Symptomatic effect of inhaled fenoterol in acute bronchitis: a placebo-controlled double-blind study

The symptomatic effect of inhaled fenoterol, a beta 2-agonist, 0.2 mg 4 times daily for 7 days, was evaluated in 80 patients with acute bronchitis examined at the Chest Clinic, Department of Medicine, University Hospital of Tromsø. Seventy-three patients completed the trial. End-point FEV1 (% predicted) showed a mean increase of 5.1% in the fenoterol group and 0.5% in the placebo group (p = 0.006). The corresponding decrease in total symptom score after one week was 67% and 51%, respectively (p = 0.06). In a subgroup of 35 patients with either bronchial hyper-responsiveness, wheezes on auscultation or FEV1 less than 80% of predicted at entry, a statistically significant difference in reduction of total symptom score in favour of fenoterol was demonstrated on the second day of the trial. No difference was found in the 38 patients with normal lung findings. Fenoterol was useful when objective signs of bronchial involvement was present and may be applicable to the treatment of acute bronchitis.