Related Experiment Videos
Budesonide aerosols in Thai asthmatic children
Insights
Inhaled budesonide and oral prednisolone showed some benefits for children with chronic bronchial asthma. Budesonide significantly improved night symptoms, while prednisolone reduced cough compared to no treatment.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Allergy and Immunology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Chronic bronchial asthma affects children, necessitating effective and safe treatment options.
- Current treatments include oral corticosteroids and inhaled corticosteroids, each with potential benefits and side effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the clinical efficacy of inhaled budesonide versus oral prednisolone in children with chronic bronchial asthma.
- To assess the impact of these treatments on symptom scores, activity limitation, and pulmonary function.
Main Methods:
- A controlled study involving 13 children (aged 5-15) with chronic bronchial asthma.
- Three treatment periods: control, oral prednisolone (5 mg BID), and inhaled budesonide (100 mcg BID), each lasting 3 weeks.
- Daily assessment of day/night symptom scores, cough, activity limitation, and terbutaline use.
Main Results:
- Both budesonide and prednisolone showed improvements in asthma parameters, though not always statistically significant.
- Inhaled budesonide significantly reduced night symptom scores (p<0.05) compared to control.
- Oral prednisolone significantly reduced cough (p<0.05) compared to control.
- Slight improvements in pulmonary function were noted with both treatments.
- No significant changes in blood counts or adverse events like thrush were observed.
Conclusions:
- Inhaled budesonide demonstrates potential effectiveness in managing chronic bronchial asthma in children.
- Further long-term studies with higher dosages are needed to confirm sustained efficacy and safety profile.
- The study suggests inhaled budesonide as a viable treatment option, warranting further investigation.
Abstract:
Thirteen children with chronic bronchial asthma, 8 boys and 5 girls, aged between 5 and 15 (mean 10) years, with a duration of asthma ranging from 1 to 12 (mean 6) years, were studied by a control, oral prednisolone 5 mg twice a day and inhaled budesonide 100 micrograms twice daily, each for 3 weeks. The clinical efficacy assessed daily by day and night symptom scores, cough, limitation of activity and inhaled terbutaline used, showed improvement of the parameters measured during budesonide and prednisolone treatment period but did not reach statistical significance except for the night symptom scores (p less than 0.05) between the control and inhaled budesonide period and the cough between the control and oral prednisolone period. Slight improvement in pulmonary function was observed during budesonide and prednisolone. No changes of complete blood counts before and after inhaled budesonide were noted. No oral and pharyngeal thrush were observed in any studied period. Inhaled budesonide appears to be effective for treatment of chronic bronchial asthma but still requires long-term studies with higher dosages to be certain that its effect is better and maintained and without systemic side effects.