The priority of using hypertonic saline over ventolin in the treatment of bronchiolitis

Introduction: Bronchiolitis is one of the important causes of hospitalizing infants in the hospital. Nebulized saline and/or ventolin are usually used in the treatment of this disease. This study aims to compare the effects of these two methods on the treatment of this disease. Materials and Methods: This cohort study was conducted on 67 hospitalized children ranging in age from 2 to 7 months with the diagnosis of bronchiolitis in Ayatollah Mousavi hospital in Zanjan City, from 2013 to 2014. In Group A; 33 patients received nebulized ventolin, and in Group B; 34 patients received nebulized 5% hypertonic saline. The two groups were compared in terms of the length of hospitalization and respiratory status, in the 3rd day of hospitalization. The data were described using SPSS software, according to the independent t-test. Results: In this study, the length of hospitalization was 4.2 days, on average, in the patients treated with ventolin, and 3.8 days in the patients treated with hypertonic saline. The patients treated with hypertonic saline had a lower respiratory rate and retraction, on the 3rd day, than the patients treated with ventolin. These differences are not statistically significant either. Conclusion: In this study, the patients in the hypertonic saline group have benefited a little more, in terms of the improvement of clinical symptoms and reduction in the length of hospitalization. Although these differences are not statistically significant, but considering the fact that hypertonic saline is cheaper and more accessible than ventolin, and unlike ventolin, the remaining of the hypertonic saline vial can be re-used, thus the use of hypertonic saline has priority over ventolin.