Inhalation of corticosteroid and β-agonist for persistent cough following pulmonary resection

Patients undergoing pulmonary resection often suffer from a dry, hacking cough, which is usually refractory to opioid cough suppressors such as codeine. The cough is often painful and impairs the quality of life of the patients. The efficacy of an inhaled corticosteroid plus β2-agonist against the persistent cough after pulmonary resection was evaluated in this study.

We enrolled 21 patients in this prospective study of the efficacy of an inhaled corticosteroid plus β2-agonist against persistent cough following pulmonary resection. After baseline evaluation of the severity of the postoperative persistent cough using a visual analog scale (VAS), treatment with an inhaled corticosteroid plus β2-agonist was initiated and continued for 2 weeks. At the end of the 2 weeks, the cough severity was evaluated again using a VAS.

The median grade of cough on the VAS before the start of the inhaled treatment was 4 (range 3-8). At the end of 2 weeks of treatment with an inhaled corticosteroid plus β2 agonist, the median grade of cough on the VAS decreased from 4 to 1 (range 0-4). As an adverse effect of the inhalation, hoarseness was observed in one patient, which disappeared promptly after discontinuing the inhalations.

Treatment with an inhaled corticosteroid plus β2 agonist appeared to be highly effective, without severe adverse effects, against the persistent cough suffered by patients after pulmonary resection.