You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Therapeutics
Spacers made from sealed cold-drink bottles were as effective as conventional spacers in children with acute asthma

https://doi.org/10.1136/ebm.5.3.79

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    (1999) Lancet 354, 979; Zar HJ, Brown G, Donson H, et al.. Home-made spacers for bronchodilator therapy in children with acute asthma: a randomised trial.. Sep 18;. :. –82.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science

    
 
 QUESTION: In children with acute asthma, are homemade spacers as effective as conventional ones for improving response to a β2 agonist given by metered dose inhaler?

    Design

    Randomised {allocation concealed*}†, blinded (outcome assessors),* controlled trial with 15 to 30 minute follow up.

    Setting

    A children's hospital in South Africa.

    Patients

    88 children, 5 to 13 years of age (mean age 10 y, 60% boys, 50% moderate to severe airway obstruction [peak expiratory flow rate {PEFR} 20% to 59% of predicted normal value]), with a history of asthma, and presented with an acute asthma attack. Exclusion criteria were inability to use a metered dose inhaler (MDI) and spacer or to have pulmonary function tests with PEFR <20% of the predicted …

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Source of funding: Medical Research Council of South Africa.

    • For correspondence: Dr H Zar, Child Health Unit, 46 Sawkins Road, Rondebosch, South Africa 7700. Fax +27 27 21 689 5403.

    • ↵* See glossary.

    • ↵† Information supplied by author.