Bronchitis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Bronchitis, including details on pulmonary disorders, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, prevention.

Clinical effects of heliox administration for acute bronchiolitis in young infants.

Cambonie G, Milési C, Fournier-Favre S, Counil F, Jaber S, Picaud JC, Matecki S

Unité de Réanimation-Pédiatrique, CHU de Montpellier, Hôpital Arnaud de Villeneuve, 371 Avenue du Doyen G. Giraud, 34295 Montpellier Cedex 5, France. g-cambonie@chu-montpellier.fr

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of heliox, a helium-oxygen mixture, on respiratory distress symptoms in young infants. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, double-blind study. SETTING: Pediatric ICU (PICU) of a university hospital. PATIENTS: Twenty infants, all < 3 months old, admitted to the PICU with moderate-to-severe acute respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis. INTERVENTIONS: All infants were randomly and blindly assigned to inhale either heliox or an air-oxygen mixture (airox) for 1 h under an oxyhood. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: After 1 h, the respiratory distress score was significantly lower in the heliox group compared with the airox group (3.05 vs 5.5, p < 0.01), with a significant reduction in accessory muscles use (p < 0.05) and expiratory wheezing (p < 0.01). In contrast, inspiratory breath sounds and cyanosis did not significantly differ between groups. The ex-premature infants of the heliox group had a higher respiratory distress score at baseline compared with the term infants of this group (5.8 vs 5.2, p < 0.05) and a comparable decrease in the score at 60 min. CONCLUSIONS: In young infants, even those born prematurely, heliox breathing induced a rapid reduction in accessory muscles use and expiratory wheezing. Further studies are needed to confirm the decreased respiratory muscle work of breathing during heliox inhalation in this population.

Published 15 March 2006 in Chest, 129(3): 676-82.
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